Company Behind Online Shooter Game 'Guns of Boom' Sues Cheat Coders
According to the complaint filed by UAB Game Insight's attorneys in the Northern District of California, the software cheats infringe on the game developer's intellectual property rights.
September 06, 2019 at 01:00 AM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The Recorder
A Lithuanian mobile and social gaming company is suing seven unidentified gamers for writing and posting software cheats that modify the gameplay of its Guns of Boom multiplayer first-person-shooter game.
Perkins Coie attorneys are representing Vilnius, Lithuania-based UAB Game Insight in its suit over the John Does' cheats, which thousands of players have downloaded.
"Defendants develop, publish, and distribute cheat software that undermines this level playing field, threatens the integrity of the Guns of Boom player experience, and infringes on Game Insight's valuable intellectual property rights," wrote the Perkins Coie lawyers in a complaint filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The software codes allow the mobile game users to shoot and move faster than other players, see through objects, steady their aim and buffer recoil on their guns. These cheats offer an unfair advantage not only to recreational gamers, but also for competitive players who participate in tournaments with prize pools totaling up to $500,000, according to the complaint.
Game Insight asserts that the users have downloaded the various cheats between 300 and 62,000 times by distributing the software to websites such as GameGuardian and AutoSkillz.net. To access the cheat, users download the file from the sites to their phones and "operate the GameGuardian app and Guns of Boom in a parallel space" on the phone, which then runs a script for the cheat.
The company is suing the gamers for copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement, trademark infringement, false designation of origin and California unfair competition.
"Defendants' cheats infringe Game Insight's copyrights in Guns of Boom by copying, reproducing, preparing derivative works from, and/or displaying Guns of Boom publicly without Game Insight's permission," the company's lawyers write in the complaint.
Game Insight is seeking an order enjoining the defendants from continuing to produce the cheats and demanding that they destroy any copies of the game.
Despite the company's international location and the unknown origin of the Does, the Perkins Coie attorneys argue that the Northern District of California is the proper venue, because the game is available via the Apple App store and Google Play, which are operated by Apple Inc. and Google LLC, both headquartered in the district.
Britt Anderson and Andrew Klein of Perkins Coie's Palo Alto office, as well as William Rava and Jacob Dini in Seattle, are representing the gaming company. The attorneys were conferring with their client about commenting on the lawsuit at the time of publication.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllTrending Stories
- 1Data Breaches in UK Legal Sector Surge, According to ICO Data
- 2PayPal Faces New Round of Claims; This Time Alleging Its 'Honey' Browser Extension Cheated Consumers
- 3Fired NLRB Member Seeks Reinstatement, Challenges President's Removal Power
- 4NY Inspector General Announces Attorneys Hired to Lead Upstate Region and Gaming
- 5Carol-Lisa Phillips to Rise to Broward Chief Judge as Jack Tuter Weighs Next Move
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250