Free-to-Play battle royale game Ring of Elysium may be using a photoshopped Instagram model to market their game. The catch? It was done without the model’s permission.
The skin in question is their Lynn skin, a “kawaii” Asian photographer that has now become synonymous with Elysium. To earn the character, players must purchase the game’s $10 Adventurer’s Pass; costume swaps are unlockable at higher tiers.
While Lynn is used heavily throughout Elysium’s marketing and passes, it would seem that she is not an original creation by developer Tencent. Instead, the skin appears to be a photoshopped Instagram model by the name of Mei Yan, otherwise known by their online personas, “infrontofapple” and “Princess Mei“.
Detailed in a post on the model’s Instagram, Lynn shares many similarities to one of Yan’s original works. Her facial structure is identical, the hairstyle differs only in color. The collarbone is a perfect match alongside individual ridges on the two’s face masks. Even the wrinkles on the character’s hoodie are exactly the same as Yan’s.
“I don’t think a single person has disagreed that the game Ring of Elysium and their company Tencent has completely ripped off my look and image,” Mei Yan posted on Instagram. “This is a photo I took over 5 years ago working with Omocat (a clothing company) vs the photoshopped image of me used for their promo image for their character Lynn.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtBwV4-BFFh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Ring of Elysium is a great battle royale game, but it cannot be denied that the similarities between model Mei Yan and the online shooter are too similar. Hopefully, Tencent and the model can sort things out.
Source: Instagram