Epic will give Fortnite cheaters 'a second chance' with a new, more forgiving ban policy, as long as they didn't do anything too awful or illegal

(Image credit: Epic Games)

Everybody makes mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes arise from good intentions—paving the road to Hell and all that—and sometimes, well, maybe you just didn't think things through very well. But Epic Games says it believes in second chances, so if you've made a mistake in Fortnite at some point in the past, it's going to give you a shot at redemption—after you serve some suitable penance.

"While maintaining game integrity is our top priority, we also believe in allowing second chances for players who made a bad decision and have learned from it," Epic wrote in a Fortnite anti-cheat update. "Starting in April, we’ll be moving to a one-year matchmaking ban for first-time cheating offenses, allowing former cheaters to learn from their mistakes while still punishing and deterring cheating. A second offense will result in a lifetime ban."

Any existing lifetime bans for cheating that have been in effect for more than a year will also be lifted, Epic said. Players under a matchmaking ban will be able to log into the game and chat with others via voice or text, "but won’t be able to matchmake into Epic- or creator-made experiences, or spectate other players."

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Note that there are some mitigating factors regarding the specific mistakes made in Fortnite that will play into this new policy:

Players who have used cheats: One-year matchmaking ban for the first offense, lifetime ban for the second.
Players who have used cheats and participate in tournaments: One-year matchmaking ban + immediate lifetime ban from tournaments + potential loss of past tournament winnings. A second offense of using cheats will result in a lifetime ban.
Players who have sold cheats, or broken other rules resulting in a lifetime ban: Nothing changes. The lifetime ban is still in effect.

Epic also warned that "additional consequences may include legal repercussions," and it's not kidding on that front because it's also filed a lawsuit against someone named Isaac Strock over the alleged theft and sale of Fortnite accounts belonging to other people.

Epic claims Strock has gained control of accounts by using email-password combinations acquired elsewhere (presumably less-than-legal channels) and also by fooling Epic's support team into believing he's the legitimate owner of the accounts in question; the lawsuit says he's been caught trying to scam player support "at least four times," going back to December 2022, but he's also managed to do it successfully an indeterminate number of times.

Strock's website, which now appears to be down, claimed he's sold 482 "products," according to the lawsuit, "which consist of other Fortnite players' Epic Games account information that his customers can use to deceive Epic in order to steal control of those accounts. These “products” include the email addresses, IP addresses, and/or geolocations associated with a particular Epic Games account.

Hijacking other players' Fortnite accounts and selling them off is a big step up from running a cheat in a quick pickup match, and Strock is facing a lot more trouble than just a ban from the game. But Epic recently demonstrated that it'll drop das lawyerhammer on straight-up cheaters, too: Earlier this month it settled a lawsuit with a player who'd shared his account with someone else in order to qualify for the 2024 Fortnite Championship Series grand finals, forcing them to pay a monetary settlement including unfairly won prize money, and worse, to issue a public apology for his misdeeds and promise never to do it again.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.