World of Tanks does not want the sincerest form of flattery

Wargaming has filed a lawsuit against Chinese companies Changyou.com Limited and Gamease for their Project Tank which seems to be a blatant copy of World of Tanks. Polygon reports that the complaint alleges that Project Tank (also known as Ground War Tanks and Tanks Ground War) “copied the plot, theme, dialogue, mood, setting, pace, and character of World of Tanks, in addition to copying specific features, items, tanks, and artwork.”

For their part, Gamease and Changyou claim that Wargaming is bullying them. No. I’m not kidding.

“We feel truly shocked and bullied by Wargaming. A giant company of the gaming industry who is apparently ‘threatened’ by a closed beta phase browser game aiming to provide a cheaper, fairer, and more accessible war game to players around the world.”

The filed documents point out examples of the copying. These include features unique to World of Tanks such as historical inaccuracies made for the sake of gameplay and specific tanks that never existed in reality. Wargaming also accuses Project Tank of violating their patent on dynamic matchmaking.