Sony pulls PS4 animation video following rampant claims of plagiarism

Sony has pulled a PS4 promotional video following reports that it plagiarises a number of animated shows, films and other projects. 

The video in question was originally released by Sony Computer Entertainment Asia, which featured a number of titles alongside a collaboration between PlayStation and famous artist Tanaka. Unfortunately, many of its other ideas pulled from properties fans weren’t happy to see. 

While the video itself has been pulled from Sony’s official channels, it’s since been re-uploaded and shared by several different outlets, with one particular individual making a direct comparison between its animations and the ones in which it takes blatant inspiration from. You can see it for yourself below: 

It pulls its visuals from huge hits such as Steven Universe to smaller, independent creators, wearing such things on its sleeve fairly brazenly. It’s a shame to see such a move from Sony given the size of the PlayStation brand. For now, at least the video has been taken offline. 

The animation director of this piece is Kevin Bao, who has previously been accused of plagiarism for other projects he has worked on, so it seems this isn’t his first offence when working with a major company. Sony is yet to comment on these accusations, and it remains unclear whether any action was taken or if the project was internal or handled with outside clients. 

Outside of this unfortunate blunder, PS4 has had a very good year with a solid momentum of sales and the launch of several excellent exclusives in the form of Death Stranding, Days Gone and Concrete Genie. We’ve got the likes of The Last of Us 2 and Ghosts of Tsushima to look forward to in the coming months, too.