Epic Games has filed legal action against two video game cheaters, one of which is a 14-year old boy. The teenager's mother is ready to fight back.
The whole situation stirred quite some controversy because it involves a teenager and it's not even legal to sue a minor for this. The game developer sued the boy and another person for cheating in the video game, Fortnite, allegedly by tricking the battle royale game by using an aimbot service. The two did more damage than just use aimbots, which is why Epic Games chose to file suit rather than just ban the cheaters and be done with it.
Epic Games filed the legal action last month, but it may now regret it. At the time it filed suit, the developer may not have known the full identities of its cheaters since one of them is a minor and it's hard to believe the company would purposely sue a 14-year-old.
When it filed suit, the game developer said the action was part of a broader effort to improve the Fortnite experience and clean things up. Now, the teenager's mother is standing up for her son and has addressed the court.
Fortnite Cheater's Mom Goes After Epic Games
The 14-year-old's mother addressed a number of issues in a letter to the court, arguing that the game developer handled the matter inappropriately in several aspects.
First of all, the woman argues that the terms and conditions to play Fortnite require minors to have parental consent, which her son never had. Secondly, she says that Fortnite is a free-to-play game, yet Epic Games' whole case is based on the developer's claim that it lost profits because of the cheaters.
To prove that it has indeed suffered financial damage, the teen's mother is urging Epic Games to make a statement that would certify that her son's cheating was directly responsible for a massive loss in profit.
'Using A 14-Year-Old Child As A Scapegoat'
The mother further argues that Epic Games is "using a 14-year-old child as a scapegoat," suing players instead of going after the websites behind the paid cheating software. While Epic Games had claimed that the 14-year-old cheater helped create the software in question, the mother says that her son simply downloaded the software. Moreover, she says the developer can't prove that the software suffered any modifications.
Lastly, the woman also highlights that Epic Games has violated Delaware laws by publicly releasing her son's name in relation to this case since her son is a minor.
