A federal court awarded a $14.4 million judgment to Activision Publishing in its lawsuit against EngineOwning UG, Garnatz Enterprise Ltd, and 11 individuals.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald in California issued the default judgment against the defendants. The judge held them liable for $14.465 million in statutory damages and $292,912 in attorneys’ fees.
The individuals named include Valentin Rick, Leonard Bugla, Leon Frisch, Marc-Alexander Richts,
Alexander Kleeman, Leon Schlender, Bennet Huch, Ricky Szameitat, Remo Loffler, Charlie Wiest and Pascal Classen. The court also issued a permanent injunction against the cheaters’ site.
Activision filed its lawsuit in January, 2022, accusing the defendants of profiting off the sale of cheats that give unfair advantages to players in Call of Duty games. Activision said the software ruins the game experience for non-cheating players and harms the reputation of the game. Activision alleged that the cheating software is specifically designed to avoid detection by Plaintiff’s anti-cheating technology.
EO and Garnatz are foreign-based business entities that act as shell companies. Activision has said it has developed its Ricochet anti-cheat software at considerable expense to protect games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Mobile and Warzone Mobile.