Activision finally takes down Call of Duty’s biggest cheat provider

Cheating has been an issue in Call of Duty for a long time, especially affecting their free-to-play battle royale Warzone. Activision has landed a major blow in the war against hackers though, winning $14 million in damages from EngineOwning.

Activision filed a suit against the cheat providers in 2022 and on May 28, Central District of California Judge Michael Fitzgerald ordered EngineOwning to pay $14,465,200 to Activision in damages. The judge ruled that the company must pay $200 for every cheat that was downloaded, along with $290,000 in legal fines, and the handover of the EngineOwning domain, as shared by CharlieIntel.

The minutes of the judgment reveal that in the United States, cheats were downloaded from EngineOwning 72,328 times, which is a huge number. It’s worth remembering that this only includes the U.S. too, and not worldwide sales of the cheats that the company provided.

EngineOwning was best known for Call of Duty cheats, selling hacks that allowed players to use aimbots, see enemies through walls, and make changes to in-game lobbies. Cheating became an epidemic in Warzone, with players begging Activision to do something about it, eventually leading to the creation of the RICOCHET anti-cheat system.

The system, along with Activision’s pursuit of cheat providers, has helped to bring the number of hackers in Warzone down, although the unfortunate reality is that it’s almost impossible to wipe them out completely. Seeing the huge payout that EngineOwning has been ordered to pay in court, however, may be a big deterrent to other providers who think selling cheats is worth their time.