Riot and Bungie join forces to tackle Destiny 2 and Valorant cheat makers in new lawsuit
Defendant said to have made "tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars" selling cheats.
Riot Games and Bungie have teamed up to tackle cheating in Valorant and Destiny 2, with their lawyers filing a joint complaint aimed at cheat software creator GatorCheats, which it accuses of selling and distributing "malicious software products designed to enable members of the public to gain unfair competitive advantage."
As reported by Polygon, Riot and Bungie filed the complaint in the Central District of California court last week, estimating that GatorCheats and its owner Cameron Santos have made "tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars" selling cheats - which cost $90 USD a month, $250 for three months, or $500 for lifetime access.
"The Cheating Software enables players to manipulate Valorant and Destiny 2 to their personal advantage," explains the lawsuit, before giving examples "such as by automatically aiming weapons, revealing the locations of opponents, and allowing the player to see a vast array of information that otherwise would be obscured".
The filing argues GatorCheats' products are unlawful as they circumvent or evade anti-cheat technologies designed to protect the integrity of Valorant and Destiny 2, and that they "knowingly, intentionally, and maliciously interfered and disrupted" customer Terms of Service agreements that specifically prohibit cheating.
Bungie says it has had previous dealings with GatorCheats, which agreed to stop selling Destiny 2 cheats following the receipt of a cease and desist order - although the developer claims GatorCheats is still selling the software on a private portion of its website.
According to the filing, damages "may amount to millions of dollars" in harm - resulting from loss of goodwill among users, resources spent attempting to detect and prevent the use of cheating software, decreased profits, and more - and Riot and Bungie are asking the court to shut down GatorCheats' operation.
The lawsuit is, of course, just the latest chapter in the games industry's ongoing battle with cheat makers, and follows on from Bungie's recent efforts against cheat distributor PerfectAim, which agreed to comply with a cease and desist order from the developer last year.