Update: Microsoft has now pulled the PUBG ad from the Xbox Twitter account.
Original story: Microsoft seemingly copied a Reddit user’s PUBG ad concept wholesale for their latest campaign, using an image very similar to one crafted by a member of the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds subreddit.
The original image was posted a month ago to r/PUBattlegrounds by Macsterr, with it depicting a player wandering through a field atop an Xbox One S console. The striking design proved popular with the game’s Reddit community, with it becoming one of the highest rated posts of the month.
Also: PUBG Review (PC) — PlayerUnknown’s Battleground 1.0 Feels Like Early Access 2.0
Take a look at it below:
But it seems that someone in Xbox’s marketing department browses the PUBG subreddit, with the official Xbox account tweeting out the following ad that shares notable similarities with Macsterr’s own creation:
After Macsterr learned that Microsoft had used his design concept for their PUBG ad campaign, he posted an update discussing his thoughts. “I‘m not saying I own any copyright but the original post has 63k views,” he wrote. “So I assume they saw it and I got no credits.”
With Macsterr’s post now having reached the front page of Reddit, Microsoft has been called out for copying his design on their Xbox Twitter account. “As if the thought of pubg on console isn’t sad enough you stole this artwork from reddit,” one user wrote. “When Xbox/Microsoft steal a small guys concept and give no credit,” another added.
Despite the tweet garnering a significant amount of negative attention, it remains on the Xbox account at the time of this writing. It should be noted that as Macsterr holds no copyright for the image, the use of his concept is completely fair game — even if some perceive the lack of credit given to him as unfair. It remains to be seen whether or not Macsterr will eventually get credit for his unwitting contributions to Microsoft’s PUBG ad campaign, but at the very least his design has put him in the spotlight — even if an acknowledgement from Team Xbox would have undoubtedly been more beneficial.
