Hundreds of Fortnite players forced to forfeit World Cup prize money due to cheating

Cheating is always something that plagues online multiplayer games but the situation gets seedier when there is real-world money to be won through tournaments. This week, Epic addressed the first week of Fortnite World Cup Qualifier matches, with hundreds of players having to forfeit their earnings due to cheating.

Cheating in a tournament setting can take many forms. Beyond ESP or aimbot hacks, you also get player ghosting, teaming, account sharing and even region lock avoidance. In total, 1163 Fortnite accounts were banned for two weeks for side-stepping region locks. These players did this to have multiple attempts at qualifying for the World Cup. Due to this, 196 players won't be receiving their prize money.

An additional 48 accounts were banned for seven days due to account sharing. A process in which you hand your account over to a more skilled player to have a better chance of winning. An additional eight accounts were banned for ‘teaming', a process in which two or more players group up in a solo lobby for a better chance of winning.

One person was banned for 72 hours for disconnecting from the live match to avoid giving points to another player. Finally, just one account was banned permanently for using cheat software.

KitGuru Says: The Fortnite World Cup has a $100 million prize pool associated with it, spreading across the weekly qualifier matches and leading up to the big finale. With so much money on the line, Epic Games is going to need to continue being diligent with cheat detection in all forms in order to keep the competition fair. 

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