In early October Epic Games has released a powerful statement following a large ban wave to reflect the company’s stance on cheating in Fortnite and other games.
Let’s be straight for a second, nobody likes playing with cheaters. Not you, not me. Nobody. We play PvP games like Fortnite Battle Royale for their competitive integrity. That feeling of outshooting somebody in an intense standoff and snagging that Victory Royale! And then there are cheaters, the 360-spin instant headshot, we all know so well.
The company has also taken two players to court for infringing the company’s copyrights. Both users are associated with a cheat site as staff members. However, since then it was revealed that one of the accused is only 14 years old, and his mother is quite unhappy with Epic’s actions. Lauren Rogers wrote a letter directly to the court as a response to the alleged accusation of her son. Among other, she states her belief that the company is only using the 14-year old as a scapegoat and the fact that the cheater’s name was publicly revealed goes against Delaware laws. She also claims that her son did not help create the cheating software, as Epic Games allege, but simply downloaded it from a free website (the company, however, mentions a specific site that has $5 to $15 monthly subscription).
Epic Games has also contacted Kotaku on the case and provided the following statement:
This particular lawsuit arose as a result of the defendant filing a DMCA counterclaim to a takedown notice on a YouTube video that exposed and promoted Fortnite Battle Royale cheats and exploits. Under these circumstances, the law requires that we file suit or drop the claim.
Epic is not okay with ongoing cheating or copyright infringement from anyone at any age. As stated previously, we take cheating seriously, and we’ll pursue all available options to make sure our games are fun, fair, and competitive for players.
Katrina Yap
I recon no one ever expects to actually get sued from cheating on a game… so in a way this is tough, but fair. It really hurts every single player that actually enjoys the game when cheaters run rampant in them, I’m glad Epic is making a stand against cheats.
Scott Jeslis
Agreed!
Kris Blanchette
Nope, hold on, back up. This is bull shit. Yes cheating ruins the game for others and I am against all forms of cheating. But making an example out of a 14 year old boy is weak and shameful. How can anyone help justify what Epic is doing?
They need to get the cheat website taken down, they need to improve the security of the game to prevent this hacking, and most of all they need to fuck off with the idea that this lawsuit is somehow acceptable.
Lord Zorvan
Oh, look, an example of why kids get away with everything now days and learn nothing. Kid deserves what he gets, and mommy and daddy deserve the mortgage he just cost them. You need to fuck off with the idea kids aren’t responsible for their actions, they are.
Katrina Yap
I beg to disagree, why is there a limitation just because he’s a 14 year-old boy? He knew very well that he was going against the company’s ToS.
It is not weak and it is not shameful, it’s holding someone accountable for what he did. You shouldn’t get a free pass just cause you’re a kid, that just teaches kids that they can bend the law.