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South Korean Overwatch Hackers Sentenced And Fined $10K Dollars

South Korean Overwatch Hackers. Back in 2016, South Korea passed a law that made distributing cheats for video games illegal. Back in January, we learned that 13 Overwatch cheaters had been arrested following this law change, and now two of them have been officially sentenced.

Following a year-long investigation conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Police that ran from January to December 2017, 13 Overwatch cheaters were arrested; two of them, according to a statement as confirmed by Blizzard Korea (google Translate)

The first offender was given two years of probation, with prison awaiting if he violates his terms. The second was hit with a fine of ₩10 million, which works out to about $9,300. It’s a stiff punishment, but it could be worse. The maximum penalty allowed by law is $43,000, or five years of jail time. In a separate case in China, 15 people were recently fined $5.1 million for making and distributing cheats for PUBG, which works out to an average of $340,000 per person.

The maximum penalty allowed under these new laws is five years of jail time, or the equivalent of a $40,000 fine. There will be more sentences to come too, as only two out of the 13 cheaters arrested have been handed a punishment.

This follows on from news last week, where 15 people in China were arrested for creating and selling cheats for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.