GTA Online cheat program creator ordered to pay $150k in damages

A man from Florida, Jhonny Perez, has been found guilty of copyright infringement after developing and distributing a cheat program for Grand Theft Auto Online. He has been ordered to pay $150,000 as well as legal costs.

Perez is the developer behind 'Elusive' a cheat program that allowed players to get around the games rules by creating their own currency and interfering with other, legitimate players. 

According to a report from Torrent Freak, Take-Two, Rockstar's parent company, contacted  Perez to cease the distribution of Elusive, which was on sale for $10 - $30, depending on the package. While Perez did comply with the request, further attempts to contact him were met with silence, prompting Take-Two to take the case to court.

While it's reported that Take-Two would have been 'open to negotiating a settlement,' Perez' continued silence prompted them to file for the default judgement which, in the case of copyright infringement, has the maximum statutory damages amount of $150,000. Almost $70,000 of legal fees were also added.

"Mr. Perez’s Elusive program creates new features and elements in Grand Theft Auto which can be used to harm legitimate players, causing Take-Two to lose control over its carefully balanced plan for how its video game is designed to be played." US District Court Judge Kevin Castel writes in his order.

Thanks, Kotaku

Sarah James
Senior Guides Writer

Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.

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