Epic Games sues minor for cheating in Fortnite, mother defends him stating that Epic violated the law

Epic Games vowed to crack down on Fortnite cheaters and even banned thousands for cheating in its Battle Royale mode, but the company’s decision to go after two of these alleged cheaters appears to have gotten it some unwanted attention. One of these alleged cheaters is a minor, a 14-year old, and his mother is attempting to fight back claiming that Epic is using her son as a scapegoat and that the studio actually broke a Delaware law related to the release of information on minors in publicly releasing his name (via Kotaku).

In a letter to the court, the mother attacks Epic on a number of grounds to persuade the judge in dismissing this case. And she brings up some good points. First, she claims that her son did not create any modifications for the game himself, and that he actually downloaded existing cheats from a website in public view. It is these kinds of websites that Epic should be going after instead of a minor, according to her. Then she states that in order to play Fortnite as a minor, parental consent is required in Fortnite’s terms and conditions, however she did not give any consent herself. She also believes that the case is based on a loss of profits, however since Fortnite is free-to-play, Epic should not have lost any money due to her son’s alleged cheating. The letter ends with the mother stating that Epic violated the law in releasing her son’s name.

Epic provided a statement to Kotaku regarding this situation that can be read below.

“This particular lawsuit arose as a result of the defendant filing a DMCA counterclaim to a takedown notice on a YouTube video that exposed and promoted Fortnite Battle Royale cheats and exploits. Under these circumstances, the law requires that we file suit or drop the claim.

“Epic is not okay with ongoing cheating or copyright infringement from anyone at any age. As stated previously, we take cheating seriously, and we’ll pursue all available options to make sure our games are fun, fair, and competitive for players.”