World of Tanks is suing cheat manufacturers for over 8 million euros – the first time in Russia
Wargaming, the makers behind World of Tanks, are rolling out heavy artillery: They are demanding 670 million rubles in damages from a Russian citizen, which corresponds to a little more than 8 million euros. The cheat creator sold “thousands of packages” with cheat and bot programs in games like World of Tanks or World of Warships. This caused great damage to Wargaming. The lawsuit is set to set a precedent in Russia.
What is the lawsuit about?
- According to a Russian fan site on World of Tanks, a court in Moscow has opened a lawsuit against a resident of Yekaterinburg, a city of 1.3 million people east of the Urals Mountains (via wotexpress).
- The man is accused of distributing bots and cheats, which lead to users of the programs enjoying an unfair advantage over other players. The programs were distributed through sites called “Cyber Tank” (World of Tanks) and “Cyber Ship” (World of Warships). The prices for the programs are said to have been between 30 cents and 25 euros.
- According to the Belarusian developer Wargaming, these bots would cause honest players to lose interest in the game.
Fully automatic bot and program that shows weak points
What kind of programs are these? According to the descriptions, they are typical cheat programs. A program marked the weak point of the enemy vehicle and thus granted the cheater unfair advantages.
Another program is said to have taken full control of the vehicle in “autoplay mode” and made it possible to earn in-game currency and experience points without being logged in yourself.
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How is the process going so far? It is said that the accused fully admitted his guilt during the investigation. But then revoked the confession in court.
The investigation was initiated by a special department, “Bureau K” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Russia.
Today, December 27th, the court wants to examine the evidence in general, to hear witnesses and victims. The accused had been ordered to remain available and apparently not to leave the country.
The case is described as the “Prezezdenfall in Russia”. Taking someone to court for improperly tampering with computer games has never happened before.
“Should be treated like theft or fraud”
That’s what Wargaming says: A Wargaming legal advisor says they obtained expert opinion to determine the damage. The damage amounts to 670 million rubles, about 8 million euros.
According to Wargaming, creating and selling such programs is the same as theft or fraud and must therefore also be covered in the legal area.
In Russia one is breaking new ground here, in the USA such lawsuits against boat manufacturers are almost “normal”. For example, Blizzard has fought and won a legendary battle against a German bot provider:
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Reference-mein-mmo.de