Epic Games took a "Fortress night" cheater to court in Australia. The final result was that the cheater publicly apologized, closed his business of selling cheated and stolen accounts, and paid damages to epic, which will be donated to charity.
According to the documents obtained by gamespot, the Australian federal court found that Brandon despotakis (better known online as blazefn) violated the end-user license agreement (EULA) and service terms of Fortress night, infringed the copyright of epic, and illegally sold accounts and cheated to other players in the game. The ruling was made one year after the commencement of the proceedings in April 2021.
Blazefn's list of illegal store items includes self-targeting plug-ins, time limited "full access v-bucks accounts" and "inactive" accounts, including rare or popular skin and pre completed combat passes, as well as other illegal products. Blazefn's artwork of various store items was made into an item store similar to fortress night.
After the ruling in favor of epic and blazefn illegal stores, it is unclear how many cheating and accounts were actually sold, or whether other similar legal proceedings are under way. Presumably, those who buy blazefn accounts will at least be punished in the game - although it is unclear whether epic specifically pursues these buyers. Selling or buying accounts in Fortress night violates the terms of the game even if it does not involve cheating.
Epic issued a statement on the whole theme: "selling stolen player accounts and cheating technologies can put people's information at risk and undermine the experience of fair gamers. We take the illegal sale of these items seriously, and we will pursue all available options to ensure that our games remain interesting, fair and never win."
According to the ruling, despotakis posted its statement on twitter a week after the settlement was reached. Among them, he clearly told potential buyers not to ask him about fortress night cheating or player accounts. "I want to apologize to the fortress night community. What I did is illegal and gives players an unfair advantage over other rule-abiding people. I won't do it again."
As part of the settlement, despotakis must also pay damages to epic in the amount agreed by both parties. The total amount of these losses, although not shared with gamespot, will be donated to child's play, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of children and adolescents in children's hospitals around the world.