Blizzard Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against German-based Bossland GMBH over copyright infringement related the "Watchover Tyrant" Overwatch cheat as reported by TorrentFreak.
Watchover Tyrant is marketed as an "ESP Advantage for Overwatch". It permits players to see health, position, and other critical information of both friendly and opposing players alike regardless of distance. The cheat includes measures to get around Blizzard's "Warden" cheat detection system.
A central component of Blizzard's claim is that the engineering of the cheats would have necessitated breaching the End-User License Agreement that all players must agree to before starting Overwatch. Specifically, it addresses provisions against "Cheating" and creating "Derivative Works". The "Derivative Works" in this case refer to the on-screen overlay that is activated while Watchover Tyrant is running.
Blizzard's claim also states that breaching of Overwatch's EULA is encouraged by Bossland. Bossland has stated that they are working on engineering new systems to circumvent Blizzard's Warden detection system following recent ban waves which affected thousands of players using cheats or exploits in Overwatch.
Additionally, Blizzard's claim states that they believe that Watchover Tyrant is having an effect on their revenue:
Defendants’ sale and distribution of the Bossland Hacks in the United States has caused Blizzard to lose millions or tens of millions of dollars in revenue, and to suffer irreparable damage to its goodwill and reputation. Moreover, by releasing “Overwatch Cheat” just days after the release of “Overwatch,” Defendants are attempting to destroy or irreparably harm that game before it even has had a chance to fully flourish.
The case (which can be viewed in full as a PDF here) was filed on July 1, 2016 at the Central District Court of California. Blizzard is seeking damages for copyright infringement as well as the termination of any and all existing hacks created by Bossland.
Bossland GMBH has a blog post referring to the case. In it, they optimistically state that they feel Blizzard Entertainment can not sue them in California court as they do not have a business presence in that state. Bossland GMBH is currently engaged in multiple legal battles against Blizzard Entertainment in German courts. One case involves the "Honorbuddy" World of Warcraft bot and another is a personal liability case. Both will be heard October 6th, by Germany's highest non-constitutional court, the Federal Court of Justice.
Blizzard Entertainment lost a court case to Bossland GMBH over a Heroes of the Storm bot earlier this year and was ordered to pay their legal costs.
What do you think of Blizzard Entertainment's legal case against Bossland GMBH? Do you think more companies should utilize the court system to prosecute cheat and bot makers in a similar manner? Let us know in the comments below!
