Video game companies aren't particularly fond of cheaters. Some don't care about modding their single-player games, which really only affects one person at a time, but it's hard to think of any that even tolerate cheating in their multiplayer games. Case in point: Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive's lawsuit against the Georgian David Zipperer, who made the Menyoo and Absolute cheats for Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto V. A judge's latest ruling calls for the end of distribution of these cheats.
According to a report from Reuters this week, U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton issued a preliminary injunction against Zipperer on August 16, which prevents him from legally distributing Menyoo and Absolute. Reuters said Take-Two claimed Zipperer had cost it $500,000 by distributing these cheats because they discouraged other people from playing the game.
Menyoo and Absolute come in two versions: a free one that only works in Grand Theft Auto V's single-player mode and a paid one that's also compatible with Grand Theft Auto Online. Both are referred to as "trainers," which enable the use of other in-game cheats. Someone could use them to spawn in specific vehicles and weapons, for example, including those which are only supposed to be available if you buy the appropriate DLC. Having the ability to spawn exclusive objects also directly affects Take-Two's cash flow. Why buy DLC if you can get its contents for free?
Companies seem to be more interested than ever in bringing cheat-makers to court. For example, Blizzard was awarded $8.7 million last April because it won a case against a German bot maker that helped people cheat at Overwatch and World of Warcraft. Banning individual cheaters is a lesson in futility--even when you ban hundreds of thousands of them at once. It's more efficient to go after whoever's making the cheats.
