This is not the first time Epic is suing a tester whose loose interpretation of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) landed him in hot water, but hopefully, it's the last, as one Ronald Sykes will now stand trial over Fortnite: Chapter 2.
We're saying we hope it's the last time not because we don't enjoy the leaks - we do, at least as much as the next guy - but because the repercussions seem to be lost on the poor sods who leak Fortnite info until Epic's lawyers come knocking.
And came knocking they did, with the lawsuit filed in North Carolina alleging that Sykes, whose online handles were invisiblellama9, FNGzus and Snipa_King2k, broke his contractual obligation and revealed trade secrets and surprises that Epic worked hard to build towards.
Epic's lawsuit argues that hundreds of developers, engineers and marketers had months of their work soured by Sykes' actions. "The significant changes that came in Fortnite Chapter 2 were the result of considerable planning, creativity, and effort by Epic’s employees", they wrote, highlighting the fact that the company was building up the excitement in-game and out of it via Easter eggs, teasers, etc.
Defining all the leaked information as Epic's trade secrets, the lawsuit lists all the tweets Sykes posted under his and other aliases. In these, he posted the information he agreed to keep secret, including that he played Fortnite's Season 11. He also invited players to direct-message him to find out what he knows, and just about each of these was a violation of his NDA.
Epic Games
Epic seeks injunctive relief and maximum damages for Sykes' breach of Fortnite NDA, although we'd be more worried about being a tester with a reputation of leaking stuff.
This is the second time Epic's season leaks have made it to court, with the first one being about the comet that levelled Dusty Depot, where it was actually a tester's friend that leaked it online .
Epic Games
You can find the lawsuit in full on Scribd . Thanks Polygon .
Fortnite: Chapter 2 - Season 11 has finally arrived
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