Epic Games has filed a new lawsuit against cheat makers Sincey Cheats and Vanta Cheats, citing both violations of Epic’s terms in Fortnite and alleging that the defendants fraudulently impersonated Epic Games in an attempt to revoke the takedown of several YouTube videos. While lawsuits against cheat makers are nothing new (Bungie, Activision, Ubisoft, and Tencent Games have all previously filed lawsuits against distributors), impersonating an Epic employee is unusual.
The lawsuit targets not only the creators of these tools but also groups that resold the software. The cheats allowed players to see through walls and use auto-aim against opponents, rendering in-game cover meaningless and ensuring that every bullet hit its mark. According to Epic Games, Sincey Cheats — also known as Ediz Atas — has created and sold cheat software since January 2023.
Epic claims that the cheats and the corresponding advantage they grant over non-cheat users directly harm the company by pushing away non-cheating players and thus removing the customer base for in-game items like the Battle Pass and cosmetics.
🚨 An update on our fight against cheating in Fortnite
We filed a new lawsuit against an individual who developed and sold cheating software that helped players see through walls and auto aim. We’re also going after people who helped sell this software.
Creating and selling…
The lawsuit claims Epic has “issued tens of thousands of bans against Fortnite accounts” that used these cheats, including more than 15,000 in the United States.
Epic filed DMCA takedowns against several YouTube videos that demonstrated the cheats in action and worked as an advertisement, in response to which Sincey Cheats allegedly spoofed an employee email in an attempt to revoke the takedowns. According to the suit, “the email was manipulated to appear as if it had come from Epic by appearing to originate from an email address with the domain name @epicgames.com, using the name of an actual Epic employee, and using ‘Epic Games, Inc’ in the signature block.”
“Sincey cheats sent at least 11 virtually identical copies of this same fraudulent email,” according to the lawsuit.
Epic didn’t explicitly state the amount it seeks in damages, but the company is looking to make up for lost profits and other costs associated with the lawsuit.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.