Blizzard sues Overwatch developer for copyright infringement

Gaming giant Blizzard Entertainment has taken legal action against the German company Bossland GMBH, at a federal court in California, for the ‘Watchover Tyrant’ cheat that the company has made for Overwatch. The cheat allows players who buy and enable it to play with multiple unfair advantages.

The video game publisher said its games survive and thrive on “being enjoyable and fair for players of all skill levels, and Blizzard expends an enormous amount of time and money to ensure that this is the case.”

According to the site, “thousands” of players may be using this tool. It hurts the honesty of the game in that it allows players to see where enemies are and what their health status is.

Blizzard sued Bossland on the claim that Bossland had committed copyright infringement and was participating in unfair competition.

“[Bossland’s] sale and distribution of the Bossland Hacks in the United States has caused Blizzard to lose millions or tens of millions of dollars in revenue, and to suffer irreparable damage to its goodwill and reputation,” Blizzard said in their suit. “Moreover, by releasing ‘Overwatch Cheat’ just days after the release of ‘Overwatch’, Defendants are attempting to destroy or irreparably harm that game before it even has had a chance to fully flourish.”

Blizzard said, “They have done so by enabling and encouraging third-party ‘freelancers’ or contractors to fraudulently obtain access to the Blizzard Games and then, having done so, to engage in unauthorized reproduction of the Blizzard Games. It adds, “They also have done so by enabling users of the Bossland Hacks (particularly the Overwatch Cheat) to use the software to create derivative works, such as the dynamic screen overlay generated by the Overwatch Cheat.”

Blizzard is seeking compensation for its losses, as the developer claimed that Bossland’s cheating tools have brought in “millions in revenue” for the German company.

“Defendants not only know that their conduct is unlawful, but they engage in that conduct with the deliberate intent to harm Blizzard and its business. Blizzard is entitled to monetary damages, injunctive and other equitable relief, and punitive damages against Defendants,” the complaint reads.

However, Bossland CEO Zwetan Letschew told TorrentFreak that his company has not yet received notice of the latest lawsuit. “There are over 10 ongoing legal battles in Germany already,” he says, noting that it’s strange that Blizzard decided to take action in the US after all these years.

“Now Blizzard wants to try it in the US too. One could ask himself, why now and not back in 2011. Why did Rod Rigole [Blizzard Deputy General Counsel] even bother to fly to Munich and drive with two other lawyers 380 km to Zwickau. Why not just sue us in the US five years ago?”

While Letschew still isn’t convinced that the lawsuit is even real, he added that he’s not fearful of the legal action because it was filed in California and the court has no jurisdiction over his company.

Whether or not this turns out to be the case remains to be seen. Overwatch is available now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.