When Brawl Stars got SUED over Sprout...

A few years ago, a French designer named Mathieu Lehanneur claimed that the design of Sprout, a small plant robot character in Brawl Stars, was based on his Andrea air purifier. The Andrea was designed as an air purifier that uses a living plant as part of its filtration system, and Lehanneur argued that Supercell had copied its distinctive design without permission. The case was eventually decided by the Paris Judicial Court in December 20 25. The similarities weren't limited to the fact that both objects had a plant inside them. The court found that the combination of the Andrea's cylindrical body, transparent upper section, diagonal division, plant, water reservoir and rear fan was reproduced in Sprout's design. Supercell argued that Sprout had been created as a robot terrarium and that its other features made it an original character, but the court concluded that those additions didn't hide the similarities to the air purifier. The court also rejected the idea that the resemblance was simply a coincidence, noting that the Andrea had already been on the market for years before Sprout was created, even though it was taken off the shelves a long time ago. The court ordered Supercell to pay €250,000 as an initial payment toward the financial damages, another €80,000 for violating Lehanneur's moral rights, and €40,000 toward his legal costs. More importantly for Brawl Stars, Supercell was ordered to remove Sprout from the game's French versions and from Brawl Stars advertising and promotional material accessible in France. The court also prohibited Supercell from continuing to exploit the versions of Sprout covered by the ruling, with a penalty of €1,000 for each day of non-compliance or continued unlawful use. The whole case remained hidden from the public until June 20 26, where a court document leak exposed the whole legal battle fiasco. The situation came to light when eagle-eyed players noticed that Brawl Stars was quietly scrubbing historical promotional art, anniversary banners, and community posts that featured Sprout from their social media platforms. Later that month, Supercell finally redesigned Sprout to make its shape a curvy cube, instead of the previous round shape. #gaming #lawsuit #brawlstars