Epic Games’ crusade to punish cheaters/hackers took an unusual turn this week when the studio had to deal with one angry mom. The studio filed lawsuits against some of its players for cheating including a 14-year-old boy which got them into a heated situation with the player’s mom.
According to the boy’s mom, she filed a letter in a US District Court in which she states that the studio “has no capability of proving any form of modification” for the game’s battle royale mode as her son used cheat codes and not changing or manipulating the game’s source code.
The boy’s mom continues in her letter:
“Furthermore, Epic Games Inc. has released the defendants name publicly, therefore allowing news articles and different online publications to obtain his name and in turn release additional information. Referencing State of Delaware House Bill No. 64 it is illegal to release under age individuals’ personal information by any agencies.”
The boy’s mother further added that the game’s End User Licencing Agreement (EULA) should only be signed by persons who can enter “legally binding contracts under applicable law”. Thus, by failing to sign/agree, Epic would need to obtain consent from an adult which according to the boy’s mother, there was no age drop-down option or a consent box on the form and her son never received permission to play…
However, according to another media source, the boy in question broadcasted on YouTube where he sourced the codes, him using the codes in-game and asked for donations from viewers. The video was taken down by YouTube, in which he filed a DMCA counterclaim against the video sharing service.
According to a spokesperson for the studio:
“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.”
Will Epic Games survive the mass backlash on its pursuit to punish cheaters?
