The high-profile video game cheat maker recently ordered to pay Activision millions of dollars in damages in a court ruling has vowed to continue to release cheats for Call of Duty.
This week, the United States District Court of the Central District of California granted Activision’s motion for default judgement in the civil case against EngineOwning, which sells cheats for a number of Call of Duty games as well as Counter-Strike, Battlefield, and Titanfall. Activision was awarded $14,465,600 in statutory damages and $292,912 in attorneys’ fees, and the court issued a permanent injunction to enjoin EngineOwning’s “unlawful conduct” and to transfer its domain name, www.EngineOwning.to, to Activision.
Despite the ruling, some questioned whether Activision would see any of the money it is now owed by EngineOwning, or its ability to claim ownership of the website. At the time of this article’s publication, cheats and HWID spoofers were available to buy from EngineOwning, which seemingly operates outside the U.S.
In a statement published to its website, EngineOwning dismissed the court ruling, the order to pay Activision, and Activision’s ability to claim ownership of its website — before vowing to release a new cheat for Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone.
EngineOwning insisted the people targeted by Activision’s lawsuit “are inactive and have been for a long time”, and that the cheat maker was handed over to a new owner “years ago.” It has also created backup domains in an attempt to block Activision’s claim over the website.
“We hope and think that our domain registrar will not defer to this bogus claim, that would not have been approved by any clear headed judge with even basic democratic values in a proper jurisdiction,” EngineOwning said.
EngineOwning insisted it had paused its Modern Warfare 3 cheat only to work on getting around Activision’s latest anti-cheat tech, but threatened to release it once again later. It even threatened to release a free version of its cheat once the paid version is back up and running.
Competitive multiplayer video games have endured a cheating problem for decades, with Call of Duty in particular in the firing line, most prominently on the free-to-download battle royale Warzone on PC. Activision and other video game publishers face an uphill battle in the war against cheat makers, but the Call of Duty company will be hoping rulings such as these act as a meaningful deterrent as it prepares to release Black Ops 6 later this year.
EngineOwning’s response, however, calls into question Activision’s ability to prevent the organization from continuing its operations without spending even more time and money in the courts, potentially in countries outside the U.S. where it may have a significantly lower chance of success.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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