Blizzard Wins Court Case Against Cheat Makers Bossland

If you recall, last month, we reported that Blizzard was suing Bot maker Bossland for a rather hefty sum, 8.5 million, claiming that was the least amount of money it was owed for the damage Bossland has done to their business, user experience, and how much they’re “owed” for the number of sales Bossland boasts it made off Overwatch and their bot, Watchover Tyrant.

As it turned out, the California-based court was unimpressed with Watchover Tyrant developer’s disappearing act, as it seemed to go silent in the face of the allegations placed before it, and has now ruled in Blizzard’s favor despite not actually going to trial over the issue: now, in the US of A, Bossland owes Blizzard 8.5 million dollars in damages and reparations. But that’s not all: they also owe Blizzard $174,872 in legal fees, and they are officially forbidden from selling their product anywhere in the United States. The court claims:

“Blizzard has established a showing of resulting damage or harm because Blizzard expends a substantial amount of money combating the use of the Bossland Hacks to ensure fair game play/ Additionally, players of the Blizzard Games lodge complaints against cheating players, which has caused users to grow dissatisfied with the Blizzard Games and cease playing. Accordingly, the in-game cheating also harms Blizzard’s goodwill and reputation.”

Great news, right? Well, slow down there partner, because it’s not game, set, or match quite yet. This only applies to US courts, which means that Bossland can still sell its products in Europe and Asia, which are also big markets for Blizzard. They can also challenge the ruling in an international court, which could, in theory, overrule this decision.

And, of course, since their whole business model is based around helping people cheat, I very much doubt they’ll have a problem selling their bots illegally.

So strap yourselves in, kids, because this ride has just begun.