GTA publisher Take-Two sues online market PlayerAuctions for allegedly selling hacked accounts and currency
The Grand Theft Auto publisher’s lawsuit labels third-party marketplace PlayerAuctions as a “lawless enterprise”.
Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive is suing PlayerAuctions, an online marketplace accused of facilitating the sale of modified player accounts, items and virtual currency which has been obtained through cheats and hacks.
Filed in California last week, Take-Two’s lawsuit targets Paiao Network Technology - the Chinese owner of PlayerAuctions - accusing the firm of running a “lawless enterprise”.
In the complaint, which was spotted by Polygon, the Grand Theft Auto publisher’s lawsuit states: “While GTA lets players experience a fictional underworld of lawless enterprise, the entities behind PlayerAuctions own and operate a real one: the website PlayerAuctions.com offers a vast online marketplace containing thousands of listings for unauthorized, infringing GTA V content – including heavily modified player accounts, in-game assets, and virtual currency – all gained by using hacking software, cheats, and technical exploits.”
Essentially, at the heart of this lawsuit is Take-Two’s accusation that PlayerAuctions makes “millions in revenue” each year through the marketplace which not only sells “illegitimate items” acquired through the use of “hacking software and other exploits” but encourages it.
It is not illegal to sell your GTA Online account to other players, but it does go against Rockstar Games and Take-Two’s terms of service, something which the publisher claims PlayerAuctions is intentionally infringing by pointing to the site’s “after-sale protection” which allows for refunds in case the accounts purchased are detected by anti-cheat systems.
Take-Two go on to outline how PlayerAuctions’ marketplace works, claiming that the platform is harming GTA V players who may feel pressured to buy digital services or even resort to cheating themselves to “keep up”.
“At the scale of its Website, PlayerAuctions risks upending the GTA V player experience and interferes with the balance and fairness of the game,” the lawsuit says.
Take-Two claim that they have “repeatedly confronted PlayerAuctions with evidence of infringement and other tortious conduct” but that any cease and desist demands have been ignored in favour of profits.
What do Take-Two Interactive want out of their PlayerAuctions lawsuit?
Take-Two have filed the lawsuit against PlayerAuctions in order to address their claims regarding copyright and trademark infringement, misleading representations that GTA and the platform are affiliates and that the site is inducing players to breach their “contracts” (agreeing to the Terms of Service) with Take-Two.
Take-Two are asking the court to “preliminarily and permanently” stop PlayerAuctions from selling virtual goods and currency and player accounts used not just in GTA 5, but in all games or apps published by Take-Two and its subsidiaries.
This would include titles from publishers and developers owned by the firm such as Rockstar Games, Dynamixyz, Zynga, Ghost Story Games or 2K.
In addition, Take-Two wants PlayerAuctions to be prohibited from “aiding, abetting, contributing to, or otherwise assisting, benefiting, or inducing” the hacking of GTA or its software. They also want PlayerAuctions to stop infringing on GTA trademarks and falsely representing that they are in any way sponsored, endorsed or approved by Take-Two.
Finally, they are seeking financial compensation from PlayerAuctions as well as guarantees that the company would be unable to form a new entity to circumvent the prohibitions requested.
Take-Two’s legal action follows a similar filing from the Roblox Corporation in February, which requests the court stop PlayerAuctions buying, selling and trading Roblox-related products as well as seeking monetary damages.
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