Epic Games severely punished a professional Fortnite player for breaking the rules: a lifetime ban from tournaments and an obligation to donate the money won to charity
Epic Games continues to actively fight cheaters in Fortnite, and recently announced harsh penalties for those who break the rules in competitions. One player who was caught swapping accounts received a severe punishment: a ban from all tournaments, an obligation to donate his prize money to charity, and a video apology.
Here's What We Know
Australian professional player Morgan "RepulseGod" Bamford unfairly qualified for the Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS) 2023 Grand Final by sharing his account with another player. In a 30-second video , he admitted his actions and explained that he received a lifetime ban and must return the prize money:
"Epic has filed a lawsuit against me and I am now permanently banned from Fortnite tournaments. I also have to pay a monetary compensation, which includes the prize money I received but did not earn honestly. Epic will donate the money to charity. Cheating in tournaments ruins the fun for players who have earned their place in the competition, and I apologise to the Fortnite community for my actions. I will never cheat in Fortnite again."
Epic Games posted this update and a link to the player's video on its official FNCS account, clearly warning others of the consequences of cheating. Similar to how Valve acted during the iBUYPOWER match-fixing scandal, Epic is setting high standards for punishment to deter future offenders.
Many players online have already expressed their desire to see similarly tough measures in other games, such as Call of Duty. The release of the ranked match mode for Black Ops 6 was accompanied by a large number of cheaters, and many would like to see Activision take similar measures.
Source: @FNCompetitive
