Fortnite Developer Hit With Privacy-Fueled Lawsuit, Dividing Gamers
Fortnite developer Epic Games is being sued for a massive January security breach and gamers are split on whose fault it is. | Source: Shutterstock
Gamers are no strangers to security breaches at this point. Those tend to be the nature of the beast, as companies like Sony and more have been victim to data breaches before. Fortnite developer Epic Games experienced a similar breach in 2018, where a massive number of accounts were hacked. Now, Epic Games is reportedly facing repercussions for the hack, as the company is being sued over the incident.
In the security breach, Epic Games failed to notify users that their accounts were hacked and made a perceived ethical mistake. The class-action lawsuit is being led by Franklin D. Azar & Associates in the U.S. District Court of North Carolina. There are upwards of 100 class members involved in the lawsuit, which was filed Aug. 8 and details the failed single sign-on (SSO) setup that caused many Fortnite players to become victims to hackers. According to the filing, which was obtained by CCN.com:
“Despite the fact that the majority of Epic Games’ revenue comes from charges to credit and debit cards under its protection, on information and belief, Defendant failed, and continues to fail, to provide adequate protection for Fortnite users’ personal and confidential information and has egregiously failed to provide sufficient and timely notice or warning of potential and actual cybersecurity breaches to Fortnite users.”
But does anyone care?
Fortnite is one of the most successful games in the world, and it has brought in a lot of revenue for Epic. The developer raised $1.25 billion from investors for Fortnite in 2018, and the game continues to be played by casual gamers, hardcore Fortnite fans, and streamers alike. It begs multiple questions, including that of what the plaintiffs involved are necessarily concerned with.
Meanwhile, other users questioned the plaintiffs’ motive.
Is Fortnite’s developer “untouchable”?
It is true that Epic Games has created a massive success with Fortnite. After all, it has helped launch the careers of several popular streamers, including the controversial “Ninja,” who left Twitch. It is very unlikely the company will catch much flak for this.
Many commenters on Reddit have been offering advice on what could have been done to prevent the lawsuit. First and foremost, Epic could have used two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect accounts. Furthermore, Reddit user “pyrosade” recommends a unique password for accounts, saying “they are important because your passwords might be stolen from the account providers you are using.” Ultimately, many users claim the burden falls on Epic.
CCN.com reached out to Epic. No response has been received at this time.
