Fortnite maker Epic Games sues YouTube games for sharing cheat tips

The creators of “Fortnite” are cracking down on
cheaters.
Epic
Games

• “Fortnite” developer Epic Games is suing a pair of
  YouTubers for promoting hacks and trolling in the game and
  selling cheat software.
• The lawsuit, filed in a North Carolina district court,
  claims that cheat software damages the experience of “Fortnite”
  players, and harms the game’s community as a result.
• Epic Games is seeking damages from the two defendants
  and has asked the court to compel the pair to stop infringing
  on “Fortnite’s” copyright and user agreements.

Epic Games has filed a lawsuit against two YouTubers for
promoting the use of “Fortnite: Battle Royale” hacks on YouTube
and selling cheating software on a private website. A copy of the
claim obtained by
TorrentFreak identifies Brandon Lucas of the YouTube
channel “Golden Modz” and Colton Contor of the “Exentric” channel
in the suit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina on October 10th.

The Golden Modz and Exentric YouTube channels specialize in
videos showcasing cheat software in several popular games,
including “Fortnite,” “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” “Grand
Theft Auto V” and “Call of Duty.” The software lets players do
things that would otherwise be impossible in the game, like see
enemies through walls or aim their shots automatically. Both
channels showed the cheats in use against other players and
contained links to purchase the software from third party
websites in their video descriptions.

In their claim, Epic specifies nine videos published by the
defendants that promote hacks for “Fortnite.” These videos have
already been flagged on YouTube for copyright infringement and
are no longer available, though plenty of others that mention the
use of cheats in different games are still available on both
channels.

To quote Epic’s claim, “Nobody likes a cheater. And nobody likes
playing with cheaters.”

Epic argues that the existence and sale of such software is both
a violation of “Fortnite’s” terms of use and an infringement of
the game’s copyrights. The game’s EULA and terms of service
specifically forbid players from creating, developing or
distributing “any unauthorized software programs to gain
advantage in any online or other game modes” and behaving “in a
manner which is detrimental to the enjoyment of the software by
other users as intended by Epic.”  

Cheating will be a big problem if the games launch esports
competitions

Epic claims that the sort of trolling promoted by these YouTube
channels and the cheating software is detrimental to the
experience of the average player and hurts the “Fortnite”
community as a result. According to Epic, both Contor and Lucas
have been banned from “Fortnite” in the past but continued to
create new accounts for the free game using fake names.

Cheating has been especially rampant in Battle Royale games like
“Fortnite” and “Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds.” The latter game
banned 572,778 players during the month of September, which is
down from a monthly peak of 1.6 million in April 2018. With both
games exploring esports opportunities, keeping online play fair
and legitimate is essential for keeping players invested in
competition.

“The most visible harm from [the] defendants’ acts and the use of
the cheats they promote and sell to others may occur in a virtual
world, but it is felt in the real one,” Epic’s claim reads.
“[The] defendants’ cheating and enabling others to cheat detract
from the pleasure “Fortnite’s” players and audience take from the
game.”

Lucas, who uses the Golden Modz handle on YouTube and Twitter,
has denied using his channel as a vehicle to sell cheat software,
despite his videos sharing links to GoldenGodz.com and
GTAGodz.com, a pair of sites dedicated to selling such software.
The sites no longer show cheat packages for sale but archived
versions show subscription and lifetime rates for “Fortnite”
cheat software, selling for $54.99 and $299.99, respectively.
Both sites also offer to purchase player accounts, which is also
prohibited by “Fortnite’s” terms of service. Epic’s claim suggest
that Lucas has a stake in both sites, but he has denied ownership. In
his own defense, Lucas claims that other prominent YouTubers
share unreleased content and unlicensed mods for the game without
being targeted.

One of the sites mentioned
in the lawsuit sold cheat software for as much as
$299.99.
GoldenGodz.com via Wayback
Machine archive

According to the claim, Epic is seeking unspecified damages from
Lucas and Contor and has asked the court to force both defendants
to delete all of videos that infringe on “Fortnite’s” copyrights
and violate the game’s terms of use. The claim acknowledges that
the financial damage done to the “Fortnite” brand is not exactly
quantifiable, but Epic wants the pair to deliver any profits
earned from their cheating.

At the very least the case should stand as a warning to future
“Fortnite” hackers; cheaters never prosper. Business Insider
has reached out to Epic and the defendants for comment.