After posting an advertisement concept idea for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds to Reddit, Reddit user Macsterr realized that Microsoft had posted a very similar tweet without attribution. And just like it was discovered, Microsft removed the Tweet today without explanation. The Reddit post has since risen to the front pages of the social news aggregate site with nearly 200,000 upvotes in combined threads.
The original advertisement concept features a player roaming around in some tall grass atop the Xbox One X. The minimalist design juxtaposes the concepts of hardware and software cooperating but also reinforces the notion that PUBG is console exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox One.
The post logically chronicles the release of Macsterr’s design and concept from one month ago to the publishing of Microsoft’s tweet on December 26. You can check out the original below:
Now here’s a screenshot of Microsoft’s tweet that ran yesterday:
This original tweet has since been removed from Twitter. However, there are a few differences between the two images, most notable is the black console and the addition of the controller. Commenting on the controversy, concept-creator Macsterr said: “I’m not saying I own any copyright but the original post has 63k views so I assume they saw it and I got no credits.”
Microsoft proper has not yet responded to the allegations or controversy, and it is unclear if any legal action or compensation will come to the Reddit user. However, Major Nelson has responded to the artist in the Reddit thread, saying:
Hey guys, I wanted to let you know that this is being investigated. In the meantime, our official channels have pulled down the asset in question. I’ll follow up with the OP /u/macsterr/ once I get more details.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds recently released on the Xbox One, where we reviewed the game. Additionally, the game received the killcam feature and 3D replay this past week — a much-requested feature by the game’s hardcore community.