Source: Activision / Sledgehammer Games / Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
Let this lawsuit be a stark reminder that cheating is never worth it.
Activision scored a massive win in its ongoing battle to keep cheating out its ridiculously popular first-person shooter Call of Duty.
Spotted on The Verge, District Judge Michael Fitzgerald ordered several defendants, including EngineOwning, a website specializing in cheats first sued by Activision in 2022, to pay the video game company $14.465,600 for distributing and creating Call of Duty cheats.
To throw even more salt in EngineOwning’s open wound, the judge said the website has to be handed over to Activision to cease making cheats and to pay an additional $292,912 in attorney fees to Activision.
Ouch.
Hilariously, even after the judge’s ruling, the website is still up and running and selling Call of Duty cheats like “Aimbot,” which automatically aims and fires at opponents, or the ability to see players through walls for several matches.
Activision Already Got $3 Million In A Pair of Settlements
This latest financial win for Activision adds to the $3 million it got in a pair of settlements from Ignacio Gayduchenko and Manuel Santiago. Both individuals, per IGN’s reporting, work with EngineOwning.
Several people’s names were in the original lawsuit but failed to respond, which led Activision to ask the court to take action in April and subsequently to yesterday’s ruling.
Per The Verge:
The judge found EngineOwning and its many associated defendants guilty of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He also found them guilty of “intentionally” inducing players to buy and use cheats, despite knowing that the Call of Duty terms of use forbid it.
If this doesn’t scare other websites from creating and selling Call of Duty cheats, we don’t know what will.
You can see reactions to the news in the gallery below.