Bungie and Riot, the creators of Destiny 2 and Valorant, are going to court together. They have filed a lawsuit against GatorCheats and its operator.
This is what happened: Destiny 2 and Valorant are both shooters played online. The gaming experience of honest guardians and agents is repeatedly ruined by nasty cheats that gain an unfair advantage in matches through hacks or cheats.
The publishers and developers behind the two games are Bungie and Riot (known for titles like League of Legends). Both studios have now teamed up to sue the large cheat provider GatorGates and the operator behind it personally.
The lawsuit is about: The site Polygon reports that the corresponding lawsuit was filed on Friday, January 8, in a court in California – the Central District of California Court. In the filing, both studios act as joint plaintiffs.
The lawyers for Bungie and Riot demand:
- Damages for the harm caused – the damage is estimated in the lawsuit at several million.
- the cessation of operations of the website GatorCheats.com and that no cheats are sold or distributed there anymore.
- further distribution media of the cheats to be shut down (this concerns additional partner sites of GatorCheats and social media accounts).
Bungie had already issued a cease and desist letter against GatorCheats months ago, but this was ignored and should now be enforced.
Cameron Santos, the operator of GatorCheats, is also being sued civilly.
Here you can view the complete lawsuit document (via scribd.com)
Bungie already brought another cheat provider to its knees in October 2020:
“The best cheats you can buy with money”
What kind of cheats are these? GatorCheats advertises that their cheat software is not detected by the anti-cheat programs at Bungie or Riot. They seem particularly proud of avoiding detection by Valorant’s security program Vaguard – which is known to be very strict and almost over-cautious.
Everything is included from classics like wallhacks to aimbots. You can then customize individual advantages from the cheat packages and adjust them in matches according to your needs.
How much does it cost? Cheats for Valorant are more expensive than for Destiny 2:
- In Valorant, the package is called “Gatorant” and costs $90.00 per month up to $500 for lifetime access.
- In Destiny 2, three months of access cost $100.00 and lifetime access costs $200.00.
The lawsuit demonstrates that the cheat provider has made thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars from selling the software. The damage of several million is justified by the fact that players lose enjoyment of the game, while the brands Destiny 2 and Valorant suffer image damage.
Both games can be played for free and generate most of their revenue from in-game purchases, which are not made by alienated guardians or agents.
What happens now? Honest players must now wait and see how the judges and the jury decide. A statement has been made.
Initial successes are already visible: MeinMMO could visit the GatorCheats site on the morning of January 12, 2021, but it only said “Site under construction. Please come back later!”, meaning that the site is being rebuilt and they ask for a later visit.
According to GameRant, other gamers would also benefit from the lawsuit, as cheats for titles like Call of Duty Warzone are also found with this cheat seller.
If the lawsuit is entirely successful and not only GatorCheats itself is shut down, but all partner sites and the operator must give up as well, it would be a huge success for the players. However, whether the cheater problem is like a hydra, where two heads grow back for every one that is cut off, remains to be seen.
What do you think? Will the lawsuit be a success and a hard blow for dishonest players?
In Bungie’s shooter, the PvP community is currently boiling not only because of the cheaters: In Destiny 2, players are now rebelling against PvP – Why?
