Fortnite pro dropped from team after cheat maker turns him in

There’s $30 million in prizes up for grabs in the big Fortnite World Cup, which means that the stakes are high for players competing in the tournament. Week one of qualifiers wrapped up last weekend, but not without some controversy.

Johnathan Kosmala, a professional player representing Team Kaliber, was dropped by the organization following accusations of cheating during the tournament:

The allegation came from none other than the maker of the cheat himself, CBV. In a video where CBV explains his reasoning, the cheat architect explains that while he generally approves the use of his product, he draws the line at using cheats to win money.

“[Kosmala’s] intentions were not to cheat in the video game, and you know, have fun, looking for a stream, stomp pubs — but to win money and scam other players who are playing legitimately,” he says. “At that point it just comes down to morals,” he continues.

In the video, you can see that CBV is using a cheat that highlights player locations, even through walls. CBV also claims that he gave Kosmala a refund for purchasing his cheats, which CBV charges $60 for. The video goes on to showcase interactions and social media messages between the player and the cheat maker.

Epic Games would not confirm to Polygon whether or not Kosmala is still allowed to compete in the World Cup, as the company does not comment on individual bans, but did say that the developer takes accusations like these seriously.

“The integrity of Fortnite competition is important to us,” an Epic Games spokesperson said. “We actively monitor all official competitions across a wide range of metrics and all winners are subjected to additional monitoring for various forms of cheating, with thorough investigations taking place for any World Cup Qualifying players. We’ll be releasing a game integrity blog later this week detailing our ongoing and future efforts.”