Creators of CoD cheats have to pay millions to Activison

According to a recent Axios article, two of the Call of Duty cheat developers, Engine Honing, reportedly had to pay a sizable settlement to Activision for multiple hacks they developed for various Activision-Blizzard titles.

Activision lawsuit

Activision accuses those involved in the EO of violating RICO and program rules, calling it a criminal conspiracy. As a result, the U.S. government orders Call of Duty cheaters to pay millions in damages to Activision.

Creating traps by EngineOwning

EngineOwning announced earlier this month a cheat for Warzone 2 that could instantly collapse entire game rooms with the push of a button.

It is unknown how much money EngineOwning made from creating cheats, but they have been available for purchase on a website for some time. Aimbots, wallhacks, and other cheats were for sale. Activision filed a lawsuit in January last year.

Call of Duty cheaters will have to pay millions of dollars

Activision received a judgment on February 13, 2023, sentencing two defendants; Manuel Santiago, and Ignacio Gayduchenko, to pay Activision $1 million and $2 million, respectively.

According to the ruling, both are prohibited from being sold and used to “abuse the public, deceive, acquire an unfair advantage, gain an unfair advantage,” and “circumvent technical measures.” Included are many CoD games, such as CoD: Vanguard, Warzone Caldera, MW2, and Warzone 2, among others.

The publisher alleges that these individuals ran a sophisticated operation to undermine the COD series; purposely colluded against Activision to sell the cheats. As a result, Activision is now demanding all the money it makes from it. Given that it is a free-to-play game, Warzone, in particular, has a troubled past regarding cheaters.

Activision’s Ricochet anti-cheat technology has helped significantly reduce the hacking plague, though it has never been entirely practical. Nevertheless, hackers remain a problem in Call of Duty, particularly in Modern Warfare 2’s new ranked play option.

Plaintiffs previously filed suit in this case based on allegations of similar underlying unfair competition in Germany against two foreign defendants.

The motion acknowledges that Activision names U.S. defendants in the lawsuit; but denies that this is an effort to “create leverage” and establish a connection with U.S. courts. Instead, the defendants assert that a lawsuit in Germany makes more sense, citing only $ 35.000 in travel expenses.

Perhaps the plaintiffs feared that the Court would conclude that this dispute would be better resolved in the German legal system. They considered that all foreign defendants bringing this motion were not citizens of the United States. Moreover, none of the foreign defendants’ alleged actions occurred in the United States.

Header: Activision