In December 2024, Epic Games reported that a player was using cheats in Fortnite even during official tournaments. At that time, the company took the necessary measures, including a lawsuit. Six months later, the court ruled that the player must pay a fine of $175,000.
Epic previously noted that the player used multiple accounts and tried his best to hide his cheating during tournaments, but he failed. Even after the lawsuit, the cheater continued to do his thing and ignored the company's statements, which led to further legal action and a fine.
Epic also notes that the entire $175,000, or whatever the final result is, will be donated to charity. The player himself is permanently banned from playing Fortnite.
Fans of Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, and other shooters have been actively reacting to this online, and for years they have been trying to get developers to take some action against cheaters. Some users say that other developers should follow Epic Games' example and punish cheaters just as severely, in the hope that this will influence the further desire of players to use cheating software in multiplayer games.
In 2023, Bungie won a similar case, obtaining $500,000 in compensation from a cheater through a court. However, in addition to using fraudulent game software for Destiny 2, the culprit also threatened the company's employees.