Fortnite world champion Bugha has been accused of cheating during a tournament. The reason was an alleged teaming with a colleague during the solo tournament. There was a warning from Epic.
This was the situation: Bugha, who won the Fortnite World Championship 2019 in solo, played in the FNCS solo tournament and was in a Discord call with his teammate “Owl” during it. The problem was that he was also participating in the same tournament and they were even in the same rounds.
Now they are accused of having teamed up during the tournament to gain advantages. A clip showed how Bugha was taken out by an opponent and then his teammate immediately jumped in and tried to eliminate the opponent.
Bugha supposedly encouraged Owl to eliminate the opponent, basically as revenge for his death. However, it was not clear from the outside why the two knew they were right next to each other.
In another clip, you can see Bugha spotting his teammate from a distance. They shoot at each other, but it doesn’t escalate into a real fight. Bugha then “warns” Owl that an opponent is nearby.
World Champion Receives a Warning
How did Epic respond? After these clips, Bugha received an in-game notification that he was warned for collusion (teaming). Although this has no further consequences for the world champion, it is meant to remind him to refrain from such behavior in the future as it violates the rules.
Why is this considered cheating? When several players are in a call but are actually competing against each other, there is a possibility that they share information that could give them an advantage in the game.
Players who have teamed up in a tournament have already been banned. Teaming is clearly considered cheating in Fortnite and is not allowed. These rules were introduced and initially confused players.
Bugha Does Not See It as Cheating
This is how the pro reacted to the accusation: For Bugha, it is clear: he did not cheat. He does not see having been in a call with his colleague, who was simultaneously his opponent, as a problem. After all, they did not share any information about the match itself.
They always fought each other whenever they encountered each other, but others only see one clip and already form an opinion (Bugha via Twitter).
His teammate Owl took it a step further and created a video showing that the two did not collaborate and fought each other when they encountered each other.
Whether it was cheating or not, both pros only received this warning.
The anti-cheat system of Fortnite seems to have issues distinguishing between when cheating occurs and when it is simply a harmless incident. A player was banned for using a glitch during a tournament, but not intentionally.
However, the problem with Fortnite’s anti-cheat system became evident when a young Fortnite pro conducted a test. He set out to prove that the system is simply terrible.
For this, he installed an aim-bot on his PC and used it during a tournament. He made it so obvious that everyone could see it. Yet he managed to reach the finals of the tournament while cheating and was only banned afterward.
