It seems like game developers have had enough of botters and cheaters. At the beginning of March, the League of Legends creator won $10 million in a lawsuit against a hacking/botting service and now World of Warcraft's Blizzard Entertainment is seeking $8.5 million in copyright damages from Bossland, a company that creates and profits off of cheats for a number of games.
Bossland claims they sold 118,939 cheating products in the United States since July 2013 and Blizzard is predicting that 36% of these cheats were for their games. With around 42,818 infringements, Blizzard has added up a total of $8 million in damages.
“In this case, Blizzard is only seeking the minimum statutory damages of $200 per infringement, for a total of $8,563,600.00. While Blizzard would surely be entitled to seek a larger amount, Blizzard seeks only minimum statutory damages. Blizzard does not seek such damages as a “punitive” measure against Bossland or to obtain an unjustified windfall,” the game developer said (pdf).
Essentially, Blizzard is claiming that Bossland has caused them a loss in sales, as they ruin games for legit players. Bossland hasn't responded to Blizzard's lawsuit, nor did they respond to a 24-hour ultimatum from the court.
It looks like Blizzard could win the case, thanks to Bossland's silence, but the outcome remains to be seen.
