Blizzard Brings Lawsuit Against Overwatch Cheat Maker
Rather unsurprisingly, Overwatch has become one of the biggest games of 2016 in just a few short weeks. Unfortunately, the game's popularity comes with a number of drawbacks. Chief among this list of drawbacks is the problem of cheaters, who have been flocking to the new game to assert their dominance through hacks and cheating programs. Blizzard has determined that enough is enough and, not content with just banning the offenders from the game, has gone after the creator of Overwatch cheating software in a new lawsuit.
Specifically, Blizzard is targeting German company Bossland GMBH, which is the maker of Watchover Tyrant, a program that allows Overwatch players to see enemy positions and health data in-game, along with status information such as whether their opponents and allies are dead or alive. The lawsuit, which was filed in a California court, alleges that Watchover Tyrant is a form of both copyright infringement and unfair competition. Blizzard also says that it's owed damages because cheating programs like this dissuade honest players from purchasing the game.
This isn't the first time Blizzard has tangled with Bossland, though previous lawsuits were brought against it in the company's native country of Germany. TorrentFreak spoke to Bossland's CEO, Zwetan Letschew, who says that his company has not yet received notice of the lawsuit, but also claims that even when that notice comes through, it won't matter because Bossland isn't under the jurisdiction of California. Bossland has previously developed cheats for other Blizzard games, including Heroes of the Storm and World of Warcraft.
Blizzard has not taken kindly to cheaters in Overwatch, banning swathes of them shortly after the game's release. With that in mind, it's not particularly shocking to see Blizzard go after Bossland at this early stage in Overwatch's lifespan. We'll just have to wait and see if Blizzard is successful in its attempt to seek damages from Bossland, or if Letschew is right to not be intimidated by the impending lawsuit.
SOURCE: TorrentFreak