Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, showed its seriousness against cheating as it launched lawsuits on two people who allegedly used aimbots for "stream sniping" Twitch streamers playing the sandbox survival game.
The cheaters are allegedly connected to Addicted Cheats, a website that rents out cheat engines to players who want to gain an unfair advantage over their opponents.
Beware, 'Fortnite' Cheaters
Epic Games has filed lawsuits in North Carolina against two individuals, Brandon Broom and Charles Vraspir. The two defendants allegedly used the services of Addicted Cheats for stream sniping, hunting down and killing Twitch members who were livestreaming their games.
In the lawsuit, Epic Games claims that the cheating engines created by Addicted Cheats are only possible if they altered the source code of Fortnite. Doing so is a violation of the End User License Agreement for Fortnite and the Copyright Act.
Against Vraspir, the lawsuit states that he has been banned from Fortnite for cheating, but he has defied it by creating other accounts using fake names. Even worse, he invited other gamers to cheat and taught them how to do so.
Vraspir is allegedly a "support/help person" while Broom is a "moderator and member of the support staff" for Addicted Cheats. Their involvement with the cheating website elevates the lawsuit against them as the platform asks for a monthly subscription of $5 to $15. Both defendants could receive demands for up to $150,000 each, on the grounds of copyright infringement.
"We take cheating seriously, and we'll pursue all available options to make sure our games are fun, fair, and competitive for players," Epic Games said in a statement.
Another Similarity Between 'Fortnite' And 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'
Fortnite, which made history by accidentally enabling cross platform play between the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One last month, also features a Battle Royale mode with gameplay similar to the record-breaking PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Bluehole Studio, the developer of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, thought that the mechanics of the two titles were too similar, starting a public feud between the two companies.
The practice of stream sniping can now be added to the list of similarities between the two titles. The practice, which can be found in the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds community, has also apparently spilled over to Fortnite. Stream sniping is only listed as a violation in the rules of conduct for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and not Fortnite, though the practice is still very much hated by Twitch streamers and their viewers alike.
