Activision awarded $14.5 million in Call of Duty cheating lawsuit

Activision scored a second victory in an ongoing court case against EngineOwning, a cheater the company has taken to court in 2022. Yesterday, District Judge Michael Fitzgerald ordered several defendants, including EngineOwning itself, to pay to the company $14,465,600 for the creation and distribution of Call of Duty cheaters.

Additionally, the judge ordered EngineOwning to turn over its website, stop creating and selling cheats, and pay $292,912 in attorney’s fees to Activision. You can find a PDF of the decision here. The site, engineowning.to, is apparently still operational today, offering tricks like an “Aimbot” that automatically aims and fires or the ability to see other players through walls for many games, including several in the Cod series.

Activision previously earned $3 million in two settlements with two of the people – Ignacio Gayduchenko and Manuel Santiago – involved in EngineOwning, as IGN Remarks. But he initially sued many more people who never responded to the lawsuit.

Yesterday’s filing names EngineOwning itself and its founders, Valentin Rick and Leon Risch, in addition to several others involved in management and marketing, moderation of the site, and an authorized EngineOwning reseller named Pascal Classen. After failing to respond, the company ultimately asked the court in April to appeal, leading to yesterday’s default judgment.

The judge found EngineOwning and its numerous 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 the conditions of use prohibit it.

Gaming companies are increasingly turning to the courts to deal with fraud creators. In 2022, Bungie has settled with Destiny 2 cheaters for $13.5 million. Bungie also won a much smaller sum of $63,000, but it was also likely the first time a jury had reached a verdict in such a case. AimJunkies, the defendant in this case, had taken an extraordinary approach in fighting the case, rather than ignoring or settling it.