Epic Games suing Fortnite tester who leaked Chapter 2

A Fortnite user experience tester is being sued by Epic Games for spoiling Fortnite Chapter 2.

Epic filed the lawsuit today in a North Carolina court, alleging that Ronald Sykes — known online as @invisiblellama9 — leaked information about Fortnite’s now-revealed Chapter 2. Earlier in October, Fortnite went offline for two days. Epic claimed that a black hole had engulfed the game. This, of course, was all part of a marketing plan. The game returned with a new map and other significant changes. It’s an event Epic had been building to for months through its first 10 seasons, spread inside and outside of Fortnite in “hints and hidden ‘Easter eggs’,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit said Sykes broke a non-disclosure agreement by revealing information he learned as a user experience tester. “He did so at the expense of Epic and those in the Fortnite community who were anxiously awaiting the new season of Fortnite only to have some of Epic’s planned surprises spoiled by Sykes’ leaks,” lawyers wrote.

Sykes played Fortnite’s new content in late September — and three days later he tweeted to another Twitter user that he “played S11 and can tell you the new stuff,” according to the lawsuit. He tweeted again from another account and revealed that in Fortnite Chapter 2, players would be able to swim. Sykes continued to post about Fortnite secrets, including an image of the new map, in the lead-up to the event.

Epic is asking for injunctive relief and maximum damages for Syke’s breach of contract and “misappropriation” of trade secrets he learned while testing for the developer. “As a direct result of Sykes’ breach of his contractual obligations under his NDA, Epic has sustained and will continue to sustain damages in an amount to be determined,” Epic said in the lawsuit.

An Epic representative told Polygon it does not comment on ongoing litigation. Sykes did not respond to Polygon’s request for comment.

This is not the first time Epic has sued someone for leaking Fortnite secrets. In 2018, Epic sued a quality assurance contractor for a season three leak. The QA tester later filed a defense against the lawsuit, which alleged he didn’t intend for the secrets to get out. Elsewhere, the company has also filed multiple suits against Fortnite cheaters, including one ongoing case wherein an elusive teenage player continued to cheat even after being sued.