Blizzard really wants gamers to play fair in its massively popular first-person shooter Overwatch, as seen in its policy of banning cheaters permanently upon first offense.
As Reinhardt would say when launching his ultimate, Blizzard is now also bringing the hammer down on a company behind Watchover Tyrant, which is a popular cheat tool for the game.
Blizzard has filed a lawsuit against Germany-based Bossland in a California federal court. Blizzard and Bossland have had a long history of battles over cheating software provided for previously released games of the developer and publisher, including Heroes of the Storm, Diablo III and World of Warcraft.
Through Watchover Tyrant, cheaters are able to gain a full overview of information regarding their teammates and their enemies, including the health and location of opponents on radar. Thousands of gamers are said to be using the software, giving them an unfair advantage over legitimate players.
The tool was released just a few days after Overwatch's launch, which has Blizzard saying that Bossland is trying to destroy the game even before it had the chance to flourish.
According to Blizzard, the cheating tool is causing "massive and irreparable harm" to the company and Overwatch, as gamers could stop playing if they are constantly being beaten unknowingly by cheaters. Watchover Tyrant is also a temptation that might get players banned permanently if they are caught using it.
The lawsuit filed by Blizzard against Bossland is on the grounds of unfair competition and the violation of copyright and the anti-circumvention provision of the DMCA.
However, according to Bossland CEO Zwetan Letschew, any decision made under the lawsuit filed in California will not have the power to enforce any punishments on the company as it is under the jurisdiction of Germany.
In response to the lawsuit that Blizzard filed, Bossland also stated that they would make Watchover Tyrant even harder to detect. This means that the company is now openly defying the end-user license agreement of Blizzard for Overwatch.
According to Bossland, it has not yet received a copy of the lawsuit. However, it is confident that it will emerge unscathed, similar to the recent lawsuit that the company won against Blizzard over a bot for Heroes of the Storm, which saw the developer and publisher pay for the legal costs and attorney's fees that Bossland incurred.
Blizzard has encouraged players to report possible instances of cheating on Overwatch through hacks@blizzard.com. While the outcome of the case against Bossland remains unknown, gamers can still do what they can to keep Overwatch as cheat-free as possible.
