Fortnite’s competitive team issued a statement, denouncing allegations of questionable practices by an Epic Games employee and pro players.
Serious allegations surfaced in the competitive Fortnite scene yesterday, following the release of a lengthy Google Doc published on Twitter. In the document, the author displays supposed evidence of European professional Fortnite players working with employees at Epic Games to alter tournament results and money exchanges to unban competitors. Epic would usually not even entertain such accusations.
However, the Fortnite Competitive Twitter account responded to the controversy. The company denies allegations against a well-known community manager. It’s a bizarre story, but Epic felt it necessary to dispute the claims publicly.
Inside the Google Doc that “exposes” shady practices in the competitive scene
The Google Doc states a supposed Epic Games admin named Renzy accepted money to benefit professional players. His position enabled him to ban and unban players when called upon. To summarize the allegations, the original poster claims that top Fortnite players would work with Renzy and TheStevieT from Epic Games to ban players above them on the tournament leaderboard.
Furthermore, other claims indicate Renzy unbanned and banned players in exchange for money. Those named in the Google Doc include Rezon, Merstach, Malibuca, and Chapix—all high-level European competitors.
The bans referenced in the document would allow players to move up on the leaderboard. As a result, these competitors could advance further in tournaments. Every professional player accused has denied the allegations against them.
Fortnite Competitive Twitter account issues a statement regarding the allegations
The official Fortnite Competitive Twitter account tweeted a response to the original Google Doc poster:
“These claims are unequivocally false. We take any claim of unethical behavior seriously, and investigated these allegations internally with our threat analytics and competitive teams. We fully stand behind the hard work of our team to ensure competitive integrity for players.”
Epic's statement does not dissect the various allegations in the Google Doc. However, given the circumstances, Epic Games believed it was necessary to address the situation. Subsequently, several top players and recognizable community members praised Epic’s response. Even the original accuser strangely thanked the company for investigating the claims.
Epic’s response likely marks the end of these allegations. Hopefully, Epic Games can be more transparent about the banning and unbanning process pertaining to Fortnite tournaments. That could ultimately remove player influence from the equation entirely.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for more Fortnite news and updates!