Allegations are being thrown left and right over Kalashnikov’s new MP-155 Ultima shotgun, according to a video game developer the design for the real world firearm was stolen right from their upcoming title, OCEANIC.
Indie Game Studio Ward B is working on a new project called OCEANIC, the game is a first-person shooter set in a science fiction environment. Ward B is an extremely small studio with a meager 40 person team, many of which are only working part-time, but this small team has a depth of experience in the game development space with many members having worked on AAA titles such as Call of Duty, Halo, Overwatch, and Destiny.
Ward B is alleging that Kalashnikov, famed for the AK series of rifles, took a design from their upcoming title and created a real version of the firearm without their permission. The two arms in question are the fictional Mastodon from Ward B’s OCEANIC and the MP-155 Ultima from Kalashnikov.
These are serious allegations to be sure, but what evidence do the developers at Ward B have? And does this case of IP theft pass the eye test?
Ward B CEO Marcellino Sauceda reached out to IGN and disclosed that in early 2020 an email from Maxim Kuzin appeared in his inbox. Maxim Kuzin was a contractor for the Kalashnikov group and he told the Ward B studio that he wanted to get their permission in bringing the video game gun to real life so it could be sold on the international market. Ultimately no deal was reached and Kalashnikov ended up releasing the MP-155 Ultima which shares a lot of similarities to the Mastodon.
Ward B CEO Marcellino Sauceda said in an interview with IGN “It’s huge. There’s no game studio today that collaborated with a weapon manufacturer to make a fully operational firearm. And we would have been the OGs of that… But they’ve completely ripped that opportunity from us.”
What Sauceda says in regards to this deal having the potential to be a massive opportunity is absolutely true, this would not only have been groundbreaking for the games industry but the firearms industry as well. Gaming is a major market, it is now bigger than Hollywood and to get that point across look at recent acquisitions, Microsoft is trying to purchase Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion and Sony has bought the creators of Halo and Destiny, Bungie, for $3.6 billion. The firearms industry would benefit from working with these developers to create real-life versions of fictional guns that they can sell to gamers and gun nuts.
Sadly no groundbreaking deal was reached between Ward B and Kalashnikov, but did Kalashnikov steal the design for the MP-155 Ultima from Ward B? Probably not, by our mark this fails the eye test but that doesn’t mean that the firearm didn’t get its inspiration from Ward B’s Mastodon.
Below is a direct comparison of Kalashnikov’s MP-155 Ultima’s pistol grip(Left) and Ward B’s Mastodon’s pistol grip(Right). The two share some similarities in shape and both firearms have a pistol grip and full stock variant, also take note that in both firearms the stock can be substituted quickly. These features are not unique to the MP-155 Ultima when it comes to real-world firearms, but it is interesting that Kalashnikov took this approach to the MP-155 Ultima after having allegedly been in contact with Ward B.
The most striking resemblance these two guns share is the separations in the top rail. Both share a W shape set of cuts, although the Mastodon does not have a rail in the middle section its W cut and its cut is a lot smaller than the MP-155 Ultima’s. While top rails are not unique in the world of arms(certainly not on tactical shotguns) and cuts in those rails are nothing new either, it is strange that they have similarly shaped cuts on the front section of the top rail.
This is where the comparisons for the two firearms end, while there are several other comparisons that IGN’s Joe Skrebels pointed to such as the side rails and some minor details around the trigger guard and receiver, these small details are not close enough in our view to dive into.
IGN reached out to the contractor, Maxim Kuzin, who contacted Ward B about potentially making one of their video game guns real to see what his side of the story was. According to Kuzin, a deal was not going to happen for several reasons, the main two being that Ward B never paid the artist who created the concept art for the Mastodon and the company was not in the best state financially meaning that they were too risky to work with.
Kuzin’s claim that Ward B never paid the concept artist is completely true, Ward B CEO Marcellino Sauceda told IGN that they had not yet paid the artist when they spoke with Kuzin but have paid them since then. This could have created a licensing nightmare had a deal gone through at the time because the artist was never paid for the work; there was no clear owner of the design at the time of the conversations between Sauceda and Kuzin.
Kuzin’s second claim that Ward B is a small studio that was unstable is also true, the company is not working with any major publisher and does not have the cash to finish the game. It would be a disaster if the deal went through and the game’s developer crashed out of the space.
IGN was also shown the patent for the MP-155 Ultima and confirmation of the originality of the design from the Russia Designers Association(RDA). The RDA concluded that the design for the MP-155 Ultima was completely original, the RDA also took a look at the Mastodon as a point of comparison but still said the design was original.
Something that should be considered by all, especially if you think the MP-155 Ultima is an original design, is that Kalashnikov did take a look at the 3D model of the Mastodon and did speak with Ward B prior to the creation of the MP-155 Ultima. That by far is the most damning piece of evidence against Kalashnikov in this case, but again, this fails the eye test in our view.
This is not a matter of simple bickering either, Ward B is looking to take this all the way. When Kalashnikov first announced the MP-155 Ultima they were issued a cease-and-desist by Ward B, Kalashnikov simply ignored this and continued marketing their firearm. When Kalashnikov made posts about their firearm they were hit with DMCA takedowns from Ward B, they did respond to those. Kalashnikov asked Ward B to provide proof that they stole the design and then told them to withdraw the DMCA takedowns. Ward B withdrew its DMCA takedowns and according to Sauceda, he sent the proof that they stole the design.
IGN also obtained communications from an anonymous source that show Kuzin, the contractor for Kalashnikov, allegedly trying to buy the design for the Mastodon from the original concept artist. When IGN asked Kuzin about the message he did not respond.
If these allegations about Kuzin trying to buy the original concept art is true, it doesn’t mean much. A company as large as Kalashnikov would certainly want to buy the concept art in order to avoid a lawsuit. Trying to buy the original art is not an admission of guilt from the company, they would want there to be no discussion about the design moving forward. Lawsuits are expensive, it’s better to pay out or “settle” in order to prevent them altogether.
There are also emails that IGN was privy to that show Kuzin praising the design of the Mastodon and claiming that a new artist should put the Kalashnikov logo on the existing renders. This again is not the biggest deal. These emails are likely from that early period when a deal was still possible, it is not illegal to manipulate someone’s intellectual property for an internal presentation. Had Kalashnikov taken these renders with their logo and used it in a marketing campaign then you would have a case, but they didn’t.
Another issue has come up with this case, Kalashnikov is alleged to have licensed their MP-155 design to another game developer.
BattleState Games is a Russian games developer that created an extremely successful game called Escape From Tarkov, the hardcore first-person shooter game is well known for its difficulty and realism. All of the firearms in Escape From Tarkov are real and considered to be highly realistic. In a recent update for the game, BattleState Games added Kalashnikov’s MP-155 Ultima for players to use. The most notable difference between the MP-155 Ultima in real life and in the game is that the one in the game uses a thermal camera as opposed to a regular camera.
If Kalashnikov did in fact steal the design for the Ultima from the developers at Ward B, then there is a major issue with the firearm being in BattleState Games’ Escape From Tarkov.
Ultimately, nothing is going to come from this case other than publicity for Kalashnikov, Ward B, and BattleState Games. All three of these companies are going to benefit as a result of this story, the controversy is drawing a lot of attention. Some people might now be inclined to buy Kalashnikov’s new MP-155 Ultima, and those same people who might be interested in the Ultima might give Escape From Tarkov a try to see what the gun looks like on their computer screen. Ward B will certainly be getting more attention for its Oceanic title, not a lot of marketing has gone into the game and at this time it does not have a lot of financial support, this story might end up saving the studio and the game might get a release date as a result.
With that being addressed, it is not unthinkable that the design for the MP-155 Ultima was stolen from Ward B, but this is probably not what happened. The most compelling piece of evidence in favor of Ward B in this case is that they were in talks with Kalashnikov prior to the MP-155 Ultima’s announcement, even with that however there is not enough evidence to condemn Kalashnikov in the case of the MP-155 Ultima.
