Epic will give Fortnite cheaters 'a second chance' with a new, more forgiving ban policy, as long as they didn't do anything too awful or illegal

pcgamer.com:

Everybody makes mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes arise from good intentions—paving the road to Hell and all that—and sometimes, well, maybe you just didn't think things through very well. But Epic Games says it believes in second chances, so if you've made a mistake in Fortnite at some point in the past, it's going to give you a shot at redemption—after you serve some suitable penance.

«While maintaining game integrity is our top priority, we also believe in allowing second chances for players who made a bad decision and have learned from it,» Epic wrote in a Fortnite anti-cheat update. «Starting in April, we’ll be moving to a one-year matchmaking ban for first-time cheating offenses, allowing former cheaters to learn from their mistakes while still punishing and deterring cheating. A second offense will result in a lifetime ban.»

Any existing lifetime bans for cheating that have been in effect for more than a year will also be lifted, Epic said. Players under a matchmaking ban will be able to log into the game and chat with others via voice or text, «but won’t be able to matchmake into Epic- or creator-made experiences, or spectate other players.»

Note that there are some mitigating factors regarding the specific mistakes made in Fortnite that will play into this new policy:

Epic also warned that «additional consequences may include legal repercussions,» and it's not kidding on that front because it's also filed a lawsuit against someone named Isaac Strock over the alleged theft and sale of Fortnite accounts belonging to other people.

Epic claims Strock has gained control of accounts by using email-password combinations acquired elsewhere (presumably less-than-legal channels) and also by fooling Epic's support team into believing he's the legitimate owner of the accounts in question; the lawsuit says he's been caught trying to scam player support «at least four times,» going back to December 2022, but he's also managed to do it successfully an indeterminate