The creators of Fortnite, Epic Games, have filed a lawsuit against a 14-year-old. He is alleged to have cheated repeatedly in the battle royale mode. His mother is defending him in a letter to the court.
Several weeks ago, Epic Games added a battle royale mode to their shooter Fortnite, which bears a strong resemblance to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The game runs on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and it is free to play.
As one might expect, the mode attracted thousands of cheaters, which Epic Games then proceeded to ban. However, with a free-to-play game, this doesn’t really mean much – the cheaters created new accounts and continued cheating.
Epic Games has taken legal action against two players. They have filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement and violations of the end-user license agreements. They are suing for $150,000.
Mother defends her son, says he is being made a scapegoat
It has now emerged: One of the two players who were sued is only 14 years old. He is alleged to have been banned at least 14 times and then simply continued.
The child’s mother has now addressed the court in an open letter and explained her view of the situation and why the lawsuit should be dismissed:
- She writes that Fortnite requires parental consent for minors to participate. She did not give this consent. Epic Games has failed to prevent minors from playing.
- Furthermore, it is unclear how Fortnite could claim to have suffered a “massive loss of profits” due to her son. Her son’s live streams could not have possibly led to a loss.
- Moreover, Epic Games is not taking action against the providers of cheat software, but against a 14-year-old who is being made a scapegoat here.
- Her son only downloaded the cheat software and did not program it himself or help in its creation.
- And Epic Games has published her son’s name, which is against regulations in her state to protect minors.
Boy apparently wanted to keep cheater video on YouTube, which is why he was sued
This letter has prompted Epic Games to respond. They are now explaining to the US site Kotaku how the lawsuit came about. Epic apparently wanted to take down a YouTube video that showed cheats and exploits in Fortnite’s battle royale and promoted them. The claim from Epic Games to take the video down was formally opposed with a “Counter-Claim.”
After that, Fortnite had no choice but to drop their own claim or to file a lawsuit.
Epic continues to state: They do not agree with cheating and copyright infringements. They will use all means necessary to ensure that their games run fairly.
Mein MMO states: Apparently, Epic Games did not know exactly who they were suing. But the audacity to fight to keep a cheater video online after YouTube and the publisher are causing problems is something else.
If you want to win in Fortnite without cheats, this route might help you:
This route is considered a winning route in Fortnite: Battle Royale
