Jarvis/YouTubeFortnite’s creators have defended banning a 17-year-old YouTuber for life, saying cheaters like him ‘ruin games’ for everyone.
Jarvis Kaye, also known as FaZe Jarvis, was caught uploading gameplay videos to his channel showing him using aimbots – a cheat that vastly improves the accuracy of one’s shot.
The teenage millionaire, a gaming star online with more than two million subscribers on YouTube and more than 200,000 followers on Twitch, said he didn’t consider that his actions would lead to a ban. But Epic Games, the company behind the free-to-play phenomenon, are steadfast: Kaye will remain banned.
Epic GamesThe use of aimbot software in Fortnite is fiercely forbidden (allegedly, some versions of the software contain dangerous malware that can endanger players’ private data). Unsurprisingly though, it’s incredibly popular, giving players an easy way to radically boost their performance.
A spokesperson for Epic Games explained to The Sun:
We have a zero-tolerance policy for the usage of cheat software. When people use aimbots or other cheat technologies to gain an unfair advantage, they ruin games for people who are playing fairly.
Kaye is a member of the FaZe Clan eSports team, and insists he only used aimbot software for entertainment purposes and ‘of course I have never done this in a competitive game mode at all’.
In an emotional video, Kaye explained his actions and pleaded with the creators to lift the ban, acknowledging ‘how big of a mistake’ he made. ‘I’m going to do my best to accept any punishment that comes my way,’ he added.
Have a look at the video below:
In the video, Kaye said:
All I was thinking about whilst I was making those videos was just how entertaining and interesting these videos would be for you guys to watch.
It didn’t even cross my mind to think that I could be banned for life from Fortnite from those videos. I just want to be clear that this is the first time that I have ever done anything like this and of course I have never done this in a competitive game mode at all.
Epic Games you know I know how big of a mistake I’ve made and I’m truly like so sorry.
The teen’s mum, Barbara Khattri, 60, has defended him, saying he simply ‘made an error’ and didn’t physically harm anyone.
Epic GamesKhattri told the MailOnline:
Jarvis made an error and he admits that. But the gaming community needs to re-think how it treats people.
He’s broken. He loves that game. He doesn’t have a devious bone in his body and what I really know is that for any mistake that doesn’t physically harm a person there should be the chance to make amends.
Some of the teen’s supporters have rallied behind him, sparking a #FreeJarvis hashtag on Twitter. However, others are less supportive. One user wrote: ‘I don’t know how he can genuinely sit there and cry at a camera when he made the conscious decision to download and use hacks.’
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.