In case you haven't been keeping up with the drama, Hi-Rez and Blizzard fans are in a battle. The drama comes from this game...

Playing super similar and looking almost identical to this game...

So did Paladins of the Realm copy Overwatch or was it the other way around? Here are the bullet points of the important points people spew out in these arguments.

Overwatch entered closed beta October 2015 where Paladins entered a closed beta in November 2015.
Hi-Rez developed a game in 2010 called Global Agenda which founder Todd Harris says featured many of the same features featured in Paladins years later.
Hi-Rez also says that while Blizzard beat them to beta, Blizzard has revealed similar characters in Overwatch that were already present in the original beta for Paladins. Specifically, the character Evie was present in Paladins months before the release and reveal of Mei as well as Ruckus who allegedly inspired the creation of D.Va.
Both are heavily inspired by Team Fortress 2, which has been around since 2007.

So how do they differ? It's tough to stack a full release vs. a game that is just now in open beta, but it's clear Overwatch is the more polished experience. On the flip side, Paladins has a lot of potential. It's free to play and with its unique card system, players are able to customize their heroes to play to their strengths in game. The maps are also more open which allows for more open-ended combat as opposed to the corridor style of Overwatch. There's also horses which allow the player to travel back to the objective much faster after respawning. That doesn't seem to matter though because it seems like both games still have a vast majority of player IGNORE THE OBJECTIVE.

So how can two games that are so similar be so vilified within their respective communities? Why do we as fans care so deeply about something that's ultimately up for each parties legal teams to decide? If you're sitting here thinking "people really don't care"...

@Polygon are these the latest Overwatch skins
— StrangerSin (@StrangerSinTV) September 20, 2016

@Kotaku of course, they deny. Bc everything is like a cheap ripoff of overwatch, from gameplay to characters, and even characters posing.
— Antony (@iantony) September 21, 2016

On the plus side, I just found a complete clone of Overwatch but F2P on steam called Paladins. It's shameful how much it copies, but FUN.
— Frequently_Futile (@FutileGaming) September 23, 2016

That paladins game is so funny because it's literally overwatch like half the characters are exact copies
— Number One Loser (@BabyBetaMale) September 22, 2016

For the time being, it would appear Paladins is unaffected by the hate as it sits in the top 10 of most played games on Steam (35,000 at its peak today), but I've seen this story before.

Battleborn

Remember Battleborn? That game that was "totally a copy of Overwatch" and a "complete ripoff" by Gearbox? THAT game was actually entirely different than Overwatch, which is what many of its critics would have discovered had they bothered to play it rather than meme about it's supposed infringement. Seriously, the comparisons of similarity between Overwatch and Paladins is warranted, but Battleborn was never even close to either of these games and remains the truest FPS MOBA experience you're gonna get. That's if you can find a game because the community has been more or less shattered by the constant bad PR and accusations of the Blizzard fan base.

I f***** loved Battleborn, and the circle jerk killed it. I can't get it back, it won't come back, and there won't be a sequel.

Don't Meme Paladins Into Obscurity And F*** This Up For Me

Like I mentioned before, Paladins is already in better shape in beta than Battleborn, but the Blizzard circle jerk has smashed greater games and is very much real. I'm not ready to say I LOVE Paladins: Champions of the Realm, but I'm not ready to have it's community of those who actually enjoy it crushed and ridiculed because it isn't made by a company that made it's legacy off STEALING GAMES.

See Warhammer vs. WoW.

Just saying.

I Don't Care If One Ripped Off The Other

I just want to enjoy a game that I'm playing and not have it's meta constantly swarmmed by Blizzard fans saying "nuh-uh" nonstop. Can't I just have something nice? You already wrecked Battleborn for me.