Meanwhile, Enright and his team have been massively and unjustly enriched at Blizzard’s expense,” Blizzard adds.īlizzard believes that Enright may have made millions through the bot sales, which start at €24.98 ($27) for the most basic World of Warcraft version.Īside from breach of contract, by violating the EULA which prohibits the use of bots and cheats, Enright and his team are accused of copyright infringement. “As a result of Enright’s conduct, Blizzard has lost millions or tens of millions of dollars in revenue and in consumer goodwill. The bot maker, meanwhile, is generating a significant profit. “The Bots that Enright has programmed and helps distribute destroy the integrity of the Blizzard Games, alienating and frustrating legitimate players, and diverting revenue from Blizzard to Defendants,” they add.īlizzard believes that the bots cause legitimate players to lose interest, costing the company millions in lost revenue.
Blizzard’s business depends upon its games being enjoyable and balanced for players of all skill levels,” the complaint ( pdf) reads. “The Bots created by Enright and his team have caused, and are continuing to cause, massive harm to Blizzard. In addition, the bots ruin the fun for other players, which causes financial damage to the company. In a complaint filed at a California federal court, Blizzard notes that the “ HonorBuddy,” “ DemonBuddy” and “ StormBuddy” bots infringe on its copyrights. Enright’s software allows users to cheat in World of Warcraft, Diablo and Heroes of Storm, among others. In an attempt to stamp out this type of abuse Blizzard has now filed a lawsuit against James Enright (aka “Apoc”) and several unnamed defendants who are allegedly behind a popular series of gaming bots. Through hacks and cheats these players are often able to dominate the competition with minimal effort. However, to the disappointment of the developer and the majority of its customers there exists a small subgroup of players who are happy to deceive their opponents to get an edge in Blizzard’s games. Over the years video game developer and publisher Blizzard Entertainment has released many popular game titles.