In the online shooter Fortnite, leaks have been revealing information long before they go live. One of the biggest sites must now put an end to leaking. Epic explains why exactly. But somehow, it’s quite a mess.
Who makes money from Fortnite? An industry has emerged around the online game Fortnite. Not only does Epic make money from the game, but also content creators, toy manufacturers, journalists, some cheaters, and fan sites make their living or at least a part of it with Fortnite.
Most of it is clearly allowed and people win prizes for it or it’s clearly prohibited and Epic sues the respective people.
However, a part of this community exists in a sort of gray area: leakers and dataminers.
This is what leakers do: There are various leakers who analyze Fortnite’s code (“data mining”) and then reveal what players can expect before the content actually goes live.
Leaks reveal early:
- what challenges are coming soon
- which new modes will start in the next weeks
- which skins will appear in the Fortnite shop
- or what’s happening in the story
For months, there has been a lively leaking scene around Fortnite, but the flow is slowly drying up. And apparently, Epic is keen to keep it that way.
This site is affected: As Eurogamer reports, the site “Fortnite BR Leaks” is now shutting down its Twitter account just before Christmas. The site has been quite successful – it had 243,000 followers on Twitter.
However, there is commotion about this closure. This is not a voluntary closure, but the site is likely following a cease and desist order issued by Epic that circulated on the internet.
This is how the leak site presents it: Staff of the site have stated that a lawyer from Epic Games asked them to close their social media accounts.
Subsequently, FNBRLeaks announced it would delete all social media accounts on Discord, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
This is the cease and desist order
This cease and desist order is said to have been received by the leaker: Furthermore, a picture of a cease and desist order allegedly issued by Epic has circulated, accusing the person behind the site of having spoiled the game for millions of players and thus negatively affected it.
It doesn’t change the fact that the person behind the site is still a teenager.
The US site Variety has supposedly published this cease and desist order from Epic. It shows that the main goal is for the teenager to stop tampering with the code and the security measures that protect this code.
Additionally, he must remove all content from Epic that he has published without authorization.
This is how the internet reacts: There was a lot of excitement around this action. Fans found it excessive that Epic responded so harshly against a site.
Especially since the site is relatively popular and the founder is still a teenager, some found Epic’s legal action too harsh.
According to Eurogamer, they regret Epic’s actions, as leaks tend to build anticipation rather than diminish it.
It is about the sale of tools
This is what Epic says: However, an Epic employee explains on reddit that there were other reasons besides pure leaks for taking action against the site.
The site had promoted the sale of tools that allow modification of Fortnite and violate the terms of use.
The sale of these tools is not directly related to datamining and leaks.
What happens next with the site? The Twitter account is gone. The Instagram account and the site itself are still active. They apparently want to continue as a pure “news site”.
This is what it’s about: Epic has previously been tough on leakers and dataminers. They sued one for breaking the NDA and leaking secrets.
Epic is also recently active against dataminers: That’s why very few reliable leaks are coming in advance.
However, Epic seems to be focused on not generally taking legal action against leaks, but only against the sale of tools that modify Fortnite’s code. In the past, Epic has shown that they will take legal action to set an example.
