Elimination of notorious Fortnite cheater excites crowd at World Cup

Fans in the Fortnite World Cup audience cheered so loud when Damion “XXiF” Cook was eliminated that the audio had to be muted. 

Earlier this year, XXiF was found guilty of cheating by Epic Games during a World Cup qualifiers match. Though he was initially stripped of his spot in the World Cup, Epic left the door open for him to regain his spot following a two-week ban.

This allowed XXiF to play in the last week of qualifiers, which saw him make the cut and infuriate the Fortnite esports community in the process. Viewers, casual players, and pros alike turned on Epic for allowing this to happen. Luminosity’s Ali “SypherPK” Hassan in particular mocked the developers for their light punishment, mimicking an announcer on Twitter. 

“Here’s Rise XXiF and his teammate Ronaldo showing up big in today’s competition. Definitely an amazing come back after they were banned in week three for literally cheating,” SypherPK said. 

Fortnite World Cup crowd boos in unison

Fortnite World Cup viewers had not forgotten XXiF’s cheating as the duo finals tournament began, with some audience members wearing “LOCK XXIF UP” shirts. One fan in attendance also captured the crowd’s shared view on the matter. A video they posted on Twitter shows the crowd booing when XXiF is shown on screen. The crowd then erupts into cheers when he is eliminated. 

Ronald “Ronaldo” Mach, who was banned alongside XXiF for intentionally feeding him kills, spoke about the crowd on Twitter. 

“I know the crowd and a lot of people still aren’t with us,” Ronaldo said in a TwitLonger. “But I really appreciate everyone that has been with me since the beginning. Things will only get brighter and I will continue to improve‬. Thank you so much to all you real ones.”

XXiF and Ronaldo earned $100,000 for their Fortnite World Cup performance, finishing in 28th place.