Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has called Fortnite Token a "scam," further stating that there isn't any officially-sanctioned Fortnite cryptocurrency available on the market.
Fortnite is one of the most popular games in the world. It recently had a resurgence thanks to the release of "Zero Build" mode, and the game made a roundabout return to mobile devices with its debut on Xbox Cloud Gaming. Popularity brings problems, though, and the latest kerfuffle surrounds a crypto token making use of the Fortnite trademark and copyright without permission.
That’s not how trademarks and copyrights work though. You can’t use the Fortnite name and images without permission to market an unrelated product.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) June 6, 2022
Fortnite Token Taken to Task Over Trademark
Kotaku reports (via PCGamer) that Epic Games Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney has recently learned of the cryptocurrency Fortnite Token, putting out a statement on his Twitter account confirming that there is no official Fortnite cryptocurrency.
"There isn't a Fortnite cryptocurrency," read a tweet from Sweeney. "The Twitter accounts promoting such a thing are a scam. Epic's lawyers are on it. Also, shame on the cryptocurrency marketplaces that enable this kind of thing."
The preceding statement was released just a few minutes after he directly replied to an announcement from the Fortnite Token Twitter; Sweeney outright called the token a scam before expanding on it in additional tweets.
Mind, that's not to say Sweeney particularly has a problem with blockchain or cryptocurrency -- yesterday, a press release went out announcing that the blockchain game Grit would be launching on the Epic Games Store. This is a notable departure from its competitor Steam which banned cryptocurrency games on its storefront late last year.
The issue here is that the Fortnite Token is making use of the Fortnite logo and name without permission, violating Epic Games' trademarks and copyrights. It hasn't taken long for Epic Games' lawyers to take action, either, as evidenced by a recent tweet from the official Fortnite Token Twitter.
Dear Fortnite Token Community, our telegram channel is blocked. Please join our new group: https://t.co/ibWi8HMaJ7
— Fortnite Token (@fortnite_token) June 7, 2022
Reddit: https://t.co/AGNc8zWxVV#FNToken #FNT #crypto pic.twitter.com/WoduwVWcCa
Suffice it to say, this is likely the first of many legal actions that will be undertaken by the Epic Games legal team.
The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, however, may make it difficult to track down the people behind this cryptocurrency. That said, using another company's trademark and copyright without permission is a pretty huge red flag, and I don't expect that this coin will be sticking around for much longer.