Blizzard Sues Cheat-Designers Bossland for 8.5 Million USD

Blizzard isn’t exactly the world’s biggest fan of cheaters and hackers: they’ve proven that countless times with their no-tolerance, zero-strike policy: if they catch you using a mod, bot, or otherwise affecting the game, you’re booted out of whatever game you’re playing, and whatever other games you might have had on your Blizzard account. Clearly, they have no interest in negotiating with terrorists, and less interest in dealing with the people who arm them: because now, Blizzard is trying to sue bot creators Bossland, who created Overwatch assistant mods, for a whoopin’ 8.5 million.

The number isn’t pulled out of nowhere: Blizzard says it grabbed the number from the German-based company’s own sale numbers, where they claim they sold 42,818 Overwatch cheating tools called Watchover Tyrant. By asking for 200 bucks for every case of copyright infringement, they feel the grand total they’re owed by the company is around $8,563,600.

This latest suit comes after Blizzard “won” a case against Bossland, trying to shut them down for violating their copyrights. Bossland tried to get the case dismissed in California, where the case is being held, but it was upheld, which means Bossland will have to make its case in court if it plans to avoid making any expensive payments to Blizzard.

“While Blizzard would surely be entitled to seek a larger amount, Blizzard seeks only minimum statutory damages. Blizzard does not seek such damages as a "punitive" measure against Bossland or to obtain an unjustified windfall,"|

If a humble bot developer could actually afford to pay that much – or if they intend to even try to defend themselves in court – has yet to be seen. But I, for one, applaud Blizzard wholeheartedly for this effort. While I admit there is some moral ambiguity, in cases of strictly multiplayer games, then if a developer is to be seen as a service-provider, then one service they have to provide is referee. And in that case, they’re doing a marvelous job.