Fortnite cheat maker exposes professional player cheating in World Cup
Player dropped from Team Kaliber after using cheats during qualifiers for $30m competition
Fortnite esports player Johnathan Kosmala (known as 'JonnyK') has been released from professional group Team Kaliber after it was revealed he cheated during the qualifiers for the Fortnite World Cup.
Polygon reports that his cheating was discovered when the maker of the cheat he used, CBV, partnered with YouTube personality The Fortnite Guy to expose Kosmala's activity. Specifically, Kosmala was using a cheat that highlighted the locations of other players through walls and other obstacles.
CBV noted in his video that while he is happy to sell cheats to players just looking to have fun, his reasons for exposing Kosmala were due to him using the cheat to earn money in a tournament full of legitimate players.
"He said that he was only looking for a competitive advantage for the cup so he could receive the money," said CBV in the video. "At that point, it just comes down to morals. It has nothing to do with me exposing him for using the cheat, but for the idea behind it...I wasn't looking for anything else, just exposure that this person who signed a professional organization has the intention of cheating only to receive the money from doing so."
In a tweet earlier this week, Team Kaliber announced its separation from Kosmala.
"This violation is serious and we have ended our relationship with him," the team said. "We apologize to our supporters for his lapse in judgement."
In a statement to Polygon, an Epic Games spokesperson said the following:
"The integrity of Fortnite competition is important to us. We actively monitor all official competitions across a wide range of metrics and all winners are subjected to additional monitoring for various forms of cheating, with thorough investigations taking place for any World Cup Qualifying players. We'll be releasing a game integrity blog later this week detailing our ongoing and future efforts."