Epic Games has taken a notably hard stand against cheaters and scammers in Fortnite recently. If buying an anti-cheat software company wasn’t enough to convince cheaters Epic means business, then the two YouTubers being sued by Epic for cheating in Fortnite should drive the point home.
On October 10, 2018, Epic Games filed a case with the North Carolina Eastern Disctrict Court to bring ‘Copyright Infingement’ charges against YouTubers Brandon “Golden Modz” Lucas and Colton “Excentric” Conter. A copy of Epic’s legal complaint was acquired by Torrent Freak on October 12, 2018.
In the complaint, Epic alleges that Golden Modz and Excentric committed “ copyright infringement, breach of contract, and tortious interference case in which the Defendants are infringing Epic’s copyrights by injecting unauthorized cheat software (‘cheats’ or ‘hacks’) into the copyright protected code of Epic’s popular video game Fortnite.”
Epic references a stream in which Modz and Excentric referred to “magical powers”. The video has since been taken down, but in it Torrent Freak quotes Modz apparenlty claiming that he would be doing a giveaway of these Fortnite “magical powers”.
“Definitely not cheats - wink wink,” claimed Modz. “It’s magical powers, okay?”
Though the video has been taken down, Golden Modz would put up another video soon enough which addressed the action Epic Games was taking against him and Excentric. That video can be seen below.
Though Modz cries foul at the treatment, it seems Epic is putting their foot down hard on less-than-legitimate practices of any kind in Fortnite. Their acquirement of Finnish anti-cheat company Kamu may have marked the beginning of rough times ahead for anyone developing mods, hacks, or scams for Fortnite Battle Royale. It remains to be seen if Epic’s claim against Golden Modz or Excentric will succeed, but if it does, one can probably expect Epic Games will continue to flex legal muscle against other entities that create or promote problematic add-ons for Fortnite.
We’ll have more on this story as it progresses.
