Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
Image via Riot Games
Category:
Business

Riot and Bungie band together against cheat creators by filing a lawsuit

They're cracking down on cheatmakers.
Image of Dexter Tan Guan Hao
Dexter Tan Guan Hao
|

Published: Jan 11, 2021 12:44 pm

Riot Games and Bungie are looking to crack down on popular cheat website GatorCheats’ alleged owner, Cameron Santos, by filing a joint civil action lawsuit.

Recommended Videos

First reported by Nicole Carpenter for Polygon, the lawsuit, filed on Jan. 8 in a Californian district court, cites Santos as the owner of multiple commercial cites dedicated to “malicious cheat and hacks for popular multiplayer games,” including VALORANT and Destiny 2.

Three more defendants, remaining unnamed through pseudonyms, were implicated. They allegedly provided customer support for GatorCheats consumers, such as avoiding detection or assisting in the use of cheating software.

The plaintiffs, Riot and Bungie, believe the defendants to be in breach of the respective games’ license agreements by providing an easy method to gain an unfair advantage and also by circumventing the games’ anti-cheat programs.

Riot and Bungie allege that Santos and GatorCheats staff employ a variety of online platforms, such as the GatorCheats website, email, Telegram, and Discord, to promote and distribute its software.

Both companies believe that VALORANT’s cheating software, named Gatorant, and the Destiny 2 Cheats suite were “downloaded and used thousands of times,” with GatorCheats profiting by “tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The two developers believe their games were predicated on being “enjoyable and fair for all” and said they suffered “irreparable damage to their goodwill and reputation” due to GatorCheats’ software, thus losing “millions of dollars in revenue” in the process.

Destiny 2 Cheats were previously subject to a cease and desist letter from Bungie to Santos on Nov. 11, 2020. Santos removed the program from its storefront but told users via Telegram on Nov. 14 that he was “not going to stop support” for the service.

In addition, Bungie’s lawyers claim that while the cheats were removed from the public-facing portions of GatorCheat on Nov. 18, it became available for sale in “private” sections of the site.

Video game developers have taken a hard stance against cheats, hacks, and its developers. Several companies, such as Activision, Ubisoft, and Niantic, have opted for legal means to firmly shut down transgressions.

You can find the full transcript of Riot and Bungie’s lawsuit here, courtesy of Polygon.

Dot Esports is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
related content
Author
Image of Dexter Tan Guan Hao
Dexter Tan Guan Hao
An e-sports, fiction, and comics fanatic through and through, you can find him sipping a nice, hot cup of tea while playing Dota 2 with the few friends that he has. Or don't find him at all. He'll prefer it that way.
twitter