Fortnite Tournament Cheat Forced to Pay $175K Banned From Game 'Forever'

A Fortnite subordinate who consistently cheated successful competitory tournaments has been handed a immense good and banned from the crippled "forever," developer Epic Games has said.

Sebastian Araujo from Lomita, California, was sued by Epic aft participating successful 839 currency tournaments wrong conscionable 4 months, portion utilizing a instrumentality designed to evade Fortnite's anti-cheat detection.

According to Epic, which won its ineligible enactment against Araujo this week aft helium attempted to disregard the lawsuit, the player's winnings amounted to "at slightest $6,850." That's nary tiny amount, but his good present is 25 times higher: an tremendous $175,521.

How has Epic landed connected specified a figure? Court documentation shared with IGN shows the developer demanded the statutory minimum $200 good for each usurpation of the game's copyright for each 839 tournaments Araujo took portion successful — for a full of $167,800. The remainder of the good is past mostly lawyer fees and costs.

"While the Court notes the magnitude sought by Plaintiff exceedingly surpasses Defendant's alleged existent gain, $6,850, Defendant took important measures to conceal the existent scope of his cheating activities by creating aggregate fake accounts and employing a hardware spoofer to circumvent detections," the tribunal documentation reads.

Further introspection shows Epic had pushed for an adjacent higher good — with an further $100,000 punishment successful statutory damages for copyright infringement — though it's present that the justice decided this magnitude would person been "excessive" versus Araujo's existent ill-gotten gains.

If it feels similar Epic is making an illustration retired of Araujo, past it wouldn't beryllium the archetypal time. Back successful February 2025, Epic humiliated different Fortnite tourney cheater by forcing them to station a nationalist apology video acknowledging they had cheated, and were likewise present banned for life.

As with that case, the wealth Araujo indispensable present wage volition beryllium donated by Epic to Child's Play, a foundation dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing entree to toys and games.

Both cases travel a committedness made backmost successful November 2024, erstwhile Epic said it was "ramping up ineligible enactment against some players who cheat and cheat sellers," arsenic it sought to bolster "competitive integrity successful tournaments."

This latest nationalist announcement, eye-watering good and beingness prohibition are each apt designed to enactment arsenic deterrants for immoderate different players with ideas of doing the same.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social