Whenever game developer Epic Games rolls out a new update for “Fortnite: Battle Royale,” one can pretty much expect that data miners/leakers will be making a mad dash, scouring the game files to check what interesting stuff they might stumble upon. However, someone inside the company may have taken leaking quite too far as he is now being sued by the game developer.

Just a few days before the battle royale shooter was swallowed by an in-game black hole, leaks emerged suggesting that “Fortnite BR’s” next chapter is at hand. Epic managed to track down the one who prematurely released such information and, it turns out, it’s their game tester.

Spoiling chapter 2 - bad idea

Epic claims that it was their user experience tester Ronald Sykes who leaked “Fortnite’s” second chapter. Subsequently, the developer filed a lawsuit against Sykes in North Carolina on Friday, October 25, for violating the company's non-disclosure agreement which he signed with Epic. “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,” the developer’s lawyers noted.

According to Polygon, Sykes was able to play the BR shooter’s new content in late September adding that, three days later, the tester took to Twitter to inform another user that he had already played “Fortnite’s” Season 11 and that he could spill the “new stuff.” On another Twitter account, Sykes again leaked a new feature in “Fortnite” Chapter 2, the players’ ability to swim in the game.

He even went on to post the game’s new map.

Epic is asking for an “injunctive relief and maximum damages” after Sykes breached his contract with the game developer and the “misappropriation” of trade secrets that he learned while testing the game. It was also stated in the lawsuit that the developer has sustained (and will continue to sustain) damages in an amount that has yet to be determined.

Both Epic and Sykes refused to comment about the lawsuit as the former told Polygon that “it does not comment on ongoing litigation.”

Other lawsuits

Epic is not new to these types of scenarios. It can be recalled that back in 2018, they filed a lawsuit against a quality assurance contractor as the developer claims that the person leaked details about “Fortnite’s” fourth season.

Players who cheat in the game are no exemption. A 14-year-old kid with a YouTube channel named CBV was also sued by Epic for copyright infringement. Per BBC, the boy featured “Fortnite” hacks and even sold it on a separate site. However, these have been settled and the hacks are no longer on his channel.
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