The makers of Call of Duty have filed a federal lawsuit against two hackers for continuing to promote and publish sophisticated cheating software.
In the lawsuit obtained by Complex, Activision Publishing, Inc. filed a federal lawsuit in California against two people—Julian Angel Valenzuela, known online as “Wolfy,” and a collaborator who goes by “Noziex”—for creating and promoting cheating software that allegedly worsens the online experience for players who don’t purchase them.
These tools, such as the auto-aim cheat called Zenith and another that can crash multiplayer servers, have caused significant issues for Call of Duty players. Activision says in the lawsuit that it attempted to reach out to Valenzuela on multiple occasions to stop the creation and selling of the cheating software, but he has never complied.
Valenzuela has, however, allegedly claimed to stop but then later promoted and sold licenses for the software. Activision claims that almost 28,400 licenses have been sold so far.
Activision claim the cheats frustrate players and push them away from Call of Duty games, damaging trust in the franchise and causing the company to spend substantial amounts of money to fix the exploits.
Activision is seeking damages tied to lost player revenue, server disruptions, profits from the dependance, damages under the DMCA, punitive damages, restitution, and attorneys’ fees.
Activision’s latest lawsuit follows its legal action against the creators of the Lergware and Game Hook hacks last year.
In January, former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick claimed that the latest Call of Duty installment, Black Ops 7, is “on track to perform over 60 percent below last year."