Fortnite: A corrupt Epic employee has apparently created and brazenly sold codes for “€150” collector’s items

At Fortnite there is a scandal surrounding a Russian employee, an Epic contractor. He is said to have done quite a bit: It is said that he created codes for the valuable “Minty Pickaxe” and sold them on the black market. He is also said to have leaked sensitive data. He also manipulated the game. Epic has already blocked his access.

Where are the allegations from? The allegations come from a Russian-language YouTube video from 10/27 (via youtube): There is an “extremely corrupt Russian employee of Epic Games.”

From a reaction from Epic Games you can already see that there is obviously something to the accusation. Epic Games quickly makes it clear that this is a “contractor”, i.e. someone who has been contractually supervised with certain tasks.

Epic Games says they are “actively looking into the allegations.” Meanwhile, the man’s access to Epic Games’ systems has been blocked.

Epic Games had an English-language video on the subject deleted from YouTube via a copyright strike. The video is said to include “sensitive personal information” about members of the Fortnite community (via twitter).

Russe is said to have created and sold codes for collectible items

What should the employee have done particularly badly? The most serious allegation is that the Russian employee created codes for the “Minty Pickaxe” item and then offered them for sale on the black market.

The Minty Pickaxe is a digital cosmetic item that you could get, among other things, in December 2019 if you bought a “FUNKO POP Llama figure”.

It’s a collector’s item and can only be obtained in-game, in Fortnite, by redeeming a code that should be strictly limited.

Because these items are relatively old, they are valuable. Versions of the item are currently being offered on eBay for $150 and 14 have reportedly been sold.

In addition, the employee is said to have committed a whole series of other crimes:

• So he blurted out how much money creators received for their created maps – these are apparently the “sensitive data” that Epic is talking about
• He is said to have boosted the maps of his own friends at Discovery
• Said to have altered existing maps in hopes they would be removed

It looks like Epic has a lot to clear up.

Epic is known for making an example of villains

Why is this so difficult? It is embarrassing for Epic and also legally relevant when someone makes sensitive data public.

The fact that someone creates valuable collector’s items and then sells them is also an intervention in the market and contradicts the players’ sense of justice.

Epic is known for making an “example” of people so that no one would think of doing the same thing as bad guys who tamper with Fortnite. A tester was sued for revealing secret information about upcoming content, and cheaters were cracked down on, even if they were very young:

Fortnite sues really brazen 14-year-old cheater – that’s how it went