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Epic Games’ crackdown on Fortnite cheating goes beyond banning players: the company says it uses account penalties, tournament security rules and lawsuits against people who cheat, sell cheats or sell accounts. A June 2025 court judgment ordered tournament cheater Sebastian Araujo to pay $175,521; Epic’s February 2026 update describes additional lawsuits, settlements and technical requirements.
What Epic says it did in its latest enforcement update
In an update published February 10, 2026, Epic said it continued pursuing account sellers, cheaters and cheat developers during 2025. The company reported suing an individual who developed and sold cheating software, as well as people who helped sell it. It also reported settlements involving a tournament cheater who helped others cheat, a cheat seller who carried out distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and a person involved in stolen Epic accounts. Epic did not state the final terms of those settlements in the update, so they should not be treated as court judgments or as proof of any particular penalty.
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Epic also said a more recent player accused of cheating and conducting DDoS attacks received a lifetime ban from all Epic games and services. This is Epic’s account of its enforcement, not a court finding. Epic’s February 10, 2026 update summarizes these actions.
What the court ordered in the Araujo case
On June 24, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered a default judgment for Epic against Sebastian Araujo. The court ordered $175,521 in damages and issued a permanent injunction. A default judgment is a specific outcome in this case; the amount is not a standard fine that every Fortnite cheater can expect to pay.
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The injunction bars Araujo and related parties from infringing Epic’s copyrights, including by downloading or using Epic’s copyrighted works such as Fortnite; circumventing technological measures; using unauthorized software or devices that provide a competitive advantage in Fortnite; and assisting those activities. The amount and restrictions come from the court’s June 24, 2025 judgment.
How Epic’s stated penalties differ by conduct
Epic’s February 27, 2025 anti-cheat update announced different consequences for ordinary cheating, tournament cheating and selling cheats. These are the penalties Epic described in that dated policy update; its February 2026 enforcement roundup confirms ongoing action but does not restate every penalty detail.
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| Conduct | Consequence Epic announced |
|---|---|
| First cheating offense | One-year matchmaking ban. |
| Second cheating offense | Lifetime ban. |
| Cheating in a tournament | One-year matchmaking ban, immediate lifetime tournament ban, and possible loss of past winnings. |
| Selling cheats or other conduct warranting a lifetime ban | Epic said these cases would remain subject to lifetime bans. |
For the announcement and its scope, see Epic’s February 27, 2025 Fortnite Anti-Cheat Update. Separately, Epic’s Terms of Service say it may suspend or terminate accounts after cheat detection. The terms identify creating, distributing or promoting cheats and technology that circumvents Gameplay Integrity Tools among exceptions to the described arbitration process. Contract terms do not determine how any individual dispute will be resolved; consult the Epic Games Terms of Service for the current language.
What Epic says its anti-cheat measures do
Epic describes a layered approach: fixing game-breaking exploits, making game systems harder to reverse-engineer, using Easy Anti-Cheat kernel-level protection, and analyzing suspicious behavior with data and machine learning. These are the company’s descriptions of its methods; the cited updates do not independently measure how effective they are. Epic has characterized the work as ongoing, saying: “Fighting cheating inside Fortnite or any other large online platform is an ongoing effort with no single, simple solution.”
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New PC requirements for tournament play
Epic’s February 2026 update says Windows PC players in tournaments must have Secure Boot, TPM and IOMMU enabled beginning February 19, 2026. Epic describes IOMMU as a way to control hardware access to system memory and better protect game memory from cheat hardware. These requirements apply to tournament PC players as described by Epic, not automatically to every Fortnite player or platform.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Epic said about Cronus devices
In its February 2025 update, Epic said legal action led the makers of Cronus devices to remove Fortnite and Rocket League scripts and gamepacks. Epic also said it restricted devices that offer a competitive advantage. This is Epic’s description of the outcome and its restriction policy; the update does not establish that every Cronus device or use is treated identically.
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- An Epic Games account is required to redeem an Epic Games Store Card code
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- The 16 digit code on the back of the card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly through your gaming platform (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch, Mobile, etc.)
- Note: Nintendo devices do not support Fortnite Shared Wallet, so V-Bucks purchased using your account balance will not show up on your Nintendo device. However, if you purchase items in the web Item Shop — or another platform where you play Fortnite — those items will be available in your Locker across all platforms.
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Source: Epic’s February 27, 2025 update.
How to read the different enforcement outcomes
- Ban: An account or tournament penalty announced or imposed by Epic under its rules.
- Settlement: An agreement reported by Epic; it is not the same as a court judgment, and the 2026 update does not give full terms for every settlement.
- Judgment: A court order. In Araujo’s case, the court specified damages and a permanent injunction.
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