Everyone is currently hyped about Overwatch and it seems to draw a new sub-genre of first person shooters. Then comes along Paladins: Champions of The Realm, a similarly blended FPS that it actually reminds you of, what else, Overwatch. Now, people have been casting stones upon this newcomer's developers stating that it is an Overwatch clone. But is it really a clone or does Hi-Rez Studios have enough evidence that they have been working in silence and with no intention to take advantage of Overwatch's hype? You may find out on this article.
Paladins: Champions of The Realm, a first-person shooter that looks undoubtedly like Overwatch, has been thrown with tomatoes for its major similarities to Blizzard's now popular multiplayer team shooter. The accusations were so intense that one of Paladins' top developers felt obligated to write a huge Reddit post yesterday, explaining and giving out facts on how it isn't a clone, Kotaku reports.
On the said Reddit post, Todd Harris - COO of Hi-Rez Studios, lays out a detailed timeline of Paladins' design and development with its influences to the studio's previous games. Harris writes that they have created majority of the Paladins abilities and classes using older games such as Smite and Global Agenda for their template. Harris also added that while Overwatch is a very good game, he asks for people's understanding about game development being an iterative process, getting ideas from past games and projects. This is very true for almost all game studios including Hi-Rez, Harris said.
Who to really credit?
Harris also emphasizes that if we are to give credit for video games like Overwatch or Paladins, it would be Team Fortress 2.
Many have began talking about the uncanny resemblance between Overwatch and Paladins over the week, just right after Hi-Rez Studio's shooter entered open beta. Most of Paladins' heroes look a whole like the characters from Overwatch. This is why the heat for it being a clone is currently high. The game is currently free-to-play.
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