Fortnite cheater wins $6,850 in aggressive tournaments, will get caught, now owes Epic $175,000
Regardless of what we’re instructed as kids, cheaters do typically prosper—pretty usually, in truth. From time to time, although, cheaters push their luck a little bit too far and their unhealthy deeds come round to chew them within the ass. Such is the case of Sebastian Araujo, who received greater than $6,800 in Fortnite tournaments after evading a ban, and now owes Epic $175,000 in consequence.
The ruling, supplied to PC Gamer by Epic, says Araujo was banned from Fortnite on June 6, 2024, after he was busted utilizing a direct reminiscence entry machine in a Fortnite event with a view to get round anti-cheat measures. As a substitute of mending his methods and returning to the sunshine, nevertheless, Araujo created at the very least three “pretend accounts” between June and October 2024, and used a {hardware} spoofer with a view to hold taking part in.
Over that four-month stretch, Araujo took half in at the very least 18 Fortnite tournaments, profitable $6,850—not big-league money by any stretch, however a hell of much more cash than I’ve ever made taking part in videogames. Sadly for Araujo, he additionally racked up 991 complaints of dishonest throughout that very same stretch, and Epic was paying consideration.
Epic filed a lawsuit towards Araujo in December 2024, and this week the ruling got here down: The defendant apparently ignored the entire thing and so Epic scored a default judgment of $168,550 for DMCA and Copyright Act violations, and one other $6,971 in attorneys’ charges. It wasn’t a complete win, as Epic’s request for an additional $100,000 in statutory damages for copyright infringement was discovered to be extreme.
THIS JUST IN: The Decide dominated in our favor after the cheater ignored our lawsuit. The participant is required to pay $175,000 and we’ll donate what we acquire to charity. They’re additionally banned from taking part in Fortnite endlessly. https://t.co/on0dYWBdq4June 25, 2025
The one upside for Araujo is that he is managed to keep away from the general public humiliation suffered by fellow Fortnite tourney cheater Morgan ‘RepulseGod’ Bamford, who in February was pressured to show over his ill-gotten positive aspects, make a public apology for his unhealthy conduct, and promise to by no means, ever do it once more.
The draw back, in fact, is that he is on the hook for 175 massive. Whether or not humiliation or destitution is your factor, although, the message is similar: Epic takes this type of factor critically, and it’ll come after you.
As for what Epic wants with $175K, which for the remainder of us is actually the equal of discovering a nickel beneath the ground mat of your automobile, the easy reply is that it does not: The damages might be donated to Kid’s Play, a charity that donates toys and video games to kids’s hospitals around the globe.