Epic Games hires private detectives to investigate the identity of cheaters in Fortnite. However, in two cases, minors have been encountered.
The Battle Royale mode of Fortnite attracts a bunch of players, but also some cheaters. In the competing game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, a wave of cheats contributes to PUBG’s slow decline. This is something Fortnite aims to avoid at all costs.
Therefore, Epic Games, the creators behind Fortnite, are determined to take strong action against those who develop, demonstrate, or distribute cheats for Fortnite. They want to bring them to court.
However, it does not seem so easy to identify the individuals behind the cheats in order to hold them accountable.
In at least two cases, Epic hired private detectives
According to Torrentfreak, Epic Games is specifically hiring private detectives to identify cheaters and then sue them. It is reported that Epic Games has hired private detectives in at least two cases to locate targets.
In the case against an alleged cheater from North Carolina, Epic first hired two security firms, but both were unsuccessful. Only a third firm from Canada determined who the cheater was, in order to initiate a civil lawsuit against that individual.
However, the person identified was a minor. The personal rights of minors are under special protection in court. Therefore, Epic Games has requested to seal the court records and protect the identity of the alleged cheaters.
Two minor cheaters found – court records sealed
The other case, which Torrentfreak knows of, where Epic Games also hired a private detective to establish the identity of a cheater, ended similarly. This was the case when a 14-year-old was found promoting a cheat on YouTube and even appealed against the deletion of the video.
At that time, the cheater’s mother reached out to the public with a letter.
With other cheaters, Epic Games seems to have reached an out-of-court settlement under the condition that they destroy their work and never do something like that again:
