Hearthstone copycat hit by Blizzard lawsuit - report

Blizzard and Chinese partner Netease are reportedly suing the company behind Legend of Crouching Dragon, a Chinese mobile title accused of ripping off Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

According to MMOCulture's interpretation of Chinese media, Blizzard and Netease have filed suit against Unico for ¥10 million (that's Chinese yuan, not yen, and about $1.65 million).

The iOS and Android title contains assets and gameplay noticeably similar to Hearthstone's, and has been hailed as a clone of Blizzard's free-to-play card battler since it came to western attention in October 2013. The game is reportedly no longer available for download, but existing players are still able to play.

Blizzard is yet to respond to media queries over the lawsuit, but as Gamespot notes, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime acknowledged the existence of "another game that is infringing on [the] Hearthstone intellectual property" in November 2013, and said that Blizzard's "legal department is taking legal action against that".

Hearthstone is now in open beta in North America, with other territories expected to join in over the next few days.