Riot and Bungie join forces to sue Valorant and Destiny 2 cheatmakers
"When we become aware of a cheatmaker, you bet we’re going to go after them"
Riot Games and Bungie have teamed up to sue a pesky cheatmaker who's been selling hacks for their games, Valorant and Destiny 2 (amongst others). In a joint lawsuit filed by the companies on Friday, they accuse GatorCheats of selling and distributing "malicious software products designed to enable members of the public to gain unfair competitive advantage."
The lawsuit, which you can see in full on Polygon, says GatorCheats sell and distribute hacks that "enables players to manipulate Valorant and Destiny 2 to their personal advantage". This includes things like automatic aiming (aimbotting) and revealing enemies through walls (wallhacks).
What baffles me is the amount of money that was charged for these cheats. GatorCheats' software for Valorant costed between $90 for three months, and $500 for lifetime access. The Destiny 2 cheats came up a little cheaper at $300 for lifetime access. Why anyone would spend that amount of money to spoil everyone's fun is beyond me. Both Riot and Bungie believe the cheatmakers have made "tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars" from the sale and distribution of these hacks.
It goes on to suggest that, because Valorant and (a version of) Destiny 2 are free, the success of the games relies on players investing money to "enhance their experience" - which they're less likely to do if there are a load of cheaters. They add that the developers spend "an enormous amount of time and money" to balance their games to make sure all players are equal.
"If players perceive that others are cheating or have an unfair advantage, they will grow frustrated with the Games and stop playing," the lawsuit says. "That, in turn, could disrupt and/or destroy the games' player communities and severely harm [Riot and Bungie's] ability to generate revenue and to maintain, improve, and expand the Games."
GatorCheats' software is specifically designed to "bypass" and "evade" by both games' anti-cheat software, which the filing states is an "unlawful act under United States and California law".
According to the lawsuit, Bungie have already had dealings with Gatorcheats too. In November last year, they served a cease and desist to the site's owner, who agreed to stop selling the hacks. Shortly after this however, he said he wasn't going to stop support for the cheats, and Bungie believes he was still selling them on a private section of the GatorCheats website.
Riot and Bungie are now asking the court to shut down the distribution of GatorCheats' Valorant and Destiny 2 cheats. They want support for any existing GatorCheats software to end, as well as a full accounting of all GatorCheats sales in the US, all proceeds earned from GatorCheats' sales, and a variety of damages and attorney fees.
"Cheating undermines a game's competitive integrity and erodes community trust," a Riot spokesperson told Polygon. "Riot is wholly committed to upholding these values for its players, so when we become aware of a cheat maker, you bet we’re going to go after them."
At the time of writing, it looks like the GatorCheats website has nothing left on it bar the words: "Site under construction. Please come back later!" Here's hoping it stays that way.