Riot and Bungie teaming up to sue Valorant and Destiny 2 cheatmakers

A cheating-software creator is facing a lawsuit dually from Riot Games and Bungie for producing hacks for Valorant and Destiny 2, among other video games, according to a complaint obtained by Polygon. Lawyers for Riot and Bungie filed the complaint in the Central District of California court on Friday, alleging that Cameron Santos of GatorCheats — as well as others — is trafficking in “a portfolio of malicious cheats and hacks.”

Bungie and Riot allege that Santos and the GatorCheats staff sell and distribute their cheating software through a website, but also via email, Telegram, and Discord. The software provided is specifically designed to go undetected by Riot and Bungie’s anti-cheat technology systems. Access to the cheating software ranges from $90 per month, up to $500 to lifetime access to the cheat. Lawyers allege that GatorCheats has made “tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars” from the cheats. (Valorant cheats are quite a bit more expensive than Destiny 2 software, according to the complaint.)

The software has different settings to allow players to tweak to their needs — like an “aimbot,” which improves a player’s aim, as well as cheats that show enemy health and equipment.

Bungie has previously issued a cease and desist notice to GatorCheats; the cheat-developer reportedly notified players that it would stop selling the software, but support the cheating system for those who already purchased it. Bungie’s lawyers allege that GatorCheats is still selling the software on a private portion of the GatorCheats website.

Riot and Bungie said that damages “may amount to millions of dollars” in harm caused to the companies by GatorCheats’ software. They’re looking to the court to shut down the operation, citing the alleged trafficking of cheating software and intentional interference in players breaching contracts, as well as unfair competition.

Polygon has reached out to Bungie, Riot, and GatorCheats for more information.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen plenty of video game developers and publishers take on hack creators — from multiple lawsuits by Nintendo to ones from Activision, Epic Games, and Ubisoft, On Friday, Pokémon Go creator Niantic settled in court with cheat-maker Global++ for $5 million, according to TorrentFreak.

Update: A Riot spokesperson told Polygon that “cheating undermines a game’s competitive integrity and erodes community trust.” It continued: “Riot is wholly committed to upholding these values for its players, so when we become aware of a cheat maker, you bet we’re going to go after them.”