Activision awarded $14.5 million in Call of Duty cheating lawsuit

Activision scored a second victory in an ongoing legal case against EngineOwning, a cheat maker the company sued in 2022. Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald ordered several defendants, including EngineOwning itself, to pay the company $14,465 ,600 for the creation and distribution of Call to action cheats.

Additionally, the judge ordered EngineOwning to turn over its website, stop making and selling cheats, and pay $292,912 in legal fees to Activision. You can find a PDF of the decision here. The site, engineowning.to, is apparently still operating today, offering tricks like an “Aimbot” that automatically aims and fires or the ability to see other players through walls in many games, including several in Cod Series.

Activision had already earned $3 million in two deals with two of the people – Ignacio Gayduchenko and Manuel Santiago – involved with EngineOwning, as IGN grades. But it originally sued many more people who never responded to the lawsuit.

Yesterday’s filing named EngineOwning itself and its founders, Valentin Rick and Leon Risch, as well as several others, including people involved in management and marketing, site moderation, and an authorized EngineOwning reseller named Pascal Classen. When they didn’t respond, the company finally asked the court in April to make a call, leading to yesterday’s default ruling.

The judge found EngineOwning and its many associated defendants guilty of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He also found them guilty of “intentionally” inducing players to purchase and use cheats, despite knowing that the Call to action the terms of use prohibit this.

Gaming companies are increasingly turning to the courts to deal with cheat creators. In 2022, Bungie made a deal with Destiny 2 cheat makers for $13.5 million. Bungie also won a much smaller sum of $63,000, but it was also likely the first time a jury had ruled in such a case. AimJunkies, the defendant in that case, took the extraordinary approach of fighting the case rather than ignoring it or settling.