A US court has ruled in favor of Take-Two in a case against a developer of a cheat software for Grand Theft Auto V. Jhonny Perez must pay the publisher the maximum fine of $ 50,000 in damages.
Take-Two Interactive last August files against a claim of copyright infringement through the development and dissemination of a cheat tools for GTA V (benchmark review here). The software called “Elusive” enabled, among other things, the generation of the in-game currency GTA-Dollar in the online mode of the game and had a comprehensive menu for various other cheats such as infinite ammunition, the spawning of any vehicle or teleportation. The options were often used by cheaters to make life difficult for other players in GTA Online.
The software was sold at prices ranging from $ 10 to $ 30 on the Internet, how much money Perez has made, is still unknown. The defendant did not respond to any requests and did not defend himself against the allegations. This omission was assessed by the court as a confession of guilt, as can be seen from the judgment (PDF).
Over 500K Alleged Damage
The damage compensation of $150,000 was the maximum for such offenses. Take-Two initially sought an out-of-court settlement but decided by the lack of cooperation from Perez to take action. According to the publisher, cheats with the software caused damage of at least $ 500,000. On the one hand, GTA Online’s reputation was damaged by cheaters, and on the other, the software made the purchase of virtual GTA dollars against real currency superfluous.
