It’s certainly not uncommon these days to hear of game studios taking action against the authors of hacks and cheats for their games, but a recent lawsuit filed in Australia by Grand Theft Auto V developer Rockstar Games and its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, takes things to a whole new level. As TorrentFreak reports, the suit — which targets “several people believed to be linked to the popular ‘Infamous’ cheat” — is particularly noteworthy because of the “broad enforcement actions” that Australia’s Federal Court has allowed.
“Per the court’s order,” TorrentFreak reports, the individuals named in the lawsuit are “prohibited from cheating and can be imprisoned if they refuse to comply.” In addition, the lawsuit “identifies two Melbourne premises” and “allows a search party to enter the buildings and search, copy, or remove relevant evidence including any computer, electronic storage device, or documents related to ‘Infamous.'”
And to top it all off, the targeted parties have also had a freezing order issued on their financial assets, “preventing [them] from taking out more money than needed for regular expenses.” The individuals named in the lawsuit have not yet filed a defense, but regardless of how the lawsuit plays out, this would appear to be one of the most extreme examples of a game developer bringing down the hammer against third-party app developers in recent memory.
Think these folks never get their comeuppance? Think again.
