Yesterday at the Fortnite World Cup, the crowd showed its dissatisfaction with Fortnite pro XXiF, who Epic allowed to join the tournament despite accusations of cheating from a fellow pro.
During a round that featured XXiF and his partner Ronaldo, the point-of-view shifted to XXiF’s screen. As the crowd realized they were seeing the game through his eyes, they began audibly booing the pro. The point-of-view stayed with XXiF for a little while, and as it did, more of the crowd joined in, and the boos got louder .
Then, something unexpected happened. Fellow Fortnite World Cup competitor Elevate appeared and took out XXiF. The crowd got to see the accused cheater eliminated from his own point-of-view. This prompted a celebration from the audience, and the booing transformed into an eruption of cheers.
The trouble for XXiF began a few months ago. After his qualification for the World Cup, a video emerged that showed off some questionable behavior. The clip in question came from another Fortnite pro, HighSky, and it featured a form of cheating known in the Fortnite community as “teaming."
In the clip, a pair of apparent opponents to XXiF land on the map and ignore his fire as they try to open a chest. HighSky went on to point out that the players, also Fortnite pros, are known friends of XXiF, and that one of them seemed to have deliberately missed their retaliation shots.
After the alleged cheating, XXiF went on to come in third place in the Week 3 qualifiers, winning $4,000 in the process. However, Epic reviewed the evidence against XXiF, and decided that it seemed legitimate. Epic then disqualified XXiF for that week and banned him from competitive play for two weeks.
That said, when XXiF returned for Week 5, he qualified for the competition again, and this time, no one had any evidence of foul play. XXiF would go on to compete in the World Cup, which offers a staggering $100 million in reward money.
This made Fortnite fans unhappy. Many believed that XXiF’s cheating should have barred him from competing in the event altogether. Nothing made that feeling more evident than the crowd cheering his elimination. Even Elevate’s team, 100 Thieves, noticed the crowd reaction and decided to have a little fun. The 100 Thieves official account tweeted that Elevate “plays for the people."
While it may still frustrate fans that a cheater had the opportunity to compete in the tournament, at least the solidarity shown by the community proves that, disqualification or not, cheating in the public eye can ruin your reputation for good.
Fortnite is out now in early access for Android, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.