Epic defeats Fortnite cheat seller, donates settlement to kids' hospitals

Epic Games took an Aussie Fortnite cheater to the Federal Court of Australia, and torched his ass. Brandon Despotakis, who went by the online handle BlazeFN, sold Fortnite cheats and in-game accounts to other players, and Epic took action against him in April 2021.

The court found that Despotakis had violated the Fortnite EULA and terms of service, as well as infringing Epic's copyright. Selling Fortnite accounts is a big no-no by Epic's terms, whether or not there are cheats involved. Despotakis consented to the court's ruling, essentially admitting he'd done it, and on May 9 released the following public statement as part of the settlement:

"Hey everyone, this is BlazeFN. Until very recently I sold unauthorised Fortnite cheats and compromised Fortnite player accounts. I won’t be doing this anymore because Epic Games caught me and commenced legal proceedings against me in Australia.

"I am also subject to legal restrictions that prevent me from doing this in the future and have to pay a monetary settlement which Epic will donate to charity.

"I’d like to apologize to the Fortnite community. What I did was illegal and gave players an unfair advantage over other people who play by the rules. I won’t do this ever again.

"Please do not contact me about Fortnite cheats or Fortnite player accounts."

I think his account has a Belle Delphine avatar. Either way, Despotakis's life of Fortnite crime—which included aimbots, 'Full Access V-Bucks accounts', accounts with rare skins, and accounts with completed battle passes—seems to be over.

Epic made this statement on the outcome: "Selling compromised player accounts and cheat technologies puts people’s information at risk and ruins the experience for people who are playing fairly. We take the illegal sale of these items seriously and we’ll pursue all available options to make sure our games remain fun, fair and never pay-to-win."

The damages Despotakis has to pay have not been made public, but will be donated to Child's Play, a charity dedicated to improving childrens' hospitals.

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."