The Fortnite pro promptly vanished from social media amid allegations that he had been using “soft aim”.
It seems that every few months, a new cheating scandal crops up in the competitive Fortnite scene. Each time fans are left confused, wondering the exact nature of the incident, and just how many other similar cases are going undetected.
During Sunday’s Frosty Frenzy tournament, Team Vanguard player Kalvin “KEZ” Dam was abruptly kicked mid-game. The moment was captured live on teammate Nanolite’s Twitch stream, with the killfeed reading, “KEZ was struck by the banhammer”.
Ummmm...?
— AussieAntics (@AussieAntics) December 14, 2020
FNCS winner being struck by ban hammer mid tournament.
Doesn't look good that he didn't say anything to his teammates after being struck by ban hammer? pic.twitter.com/c0S1MXv6DK
KEZ did not react in the clip above and deactivated his Twitter account within minutes of the ban. Whilst this does not fully confirm his guilt, it certainly feels like suspicious behaviour.
So, what did he do? In the hours following the ban, screenshots surfaced which appear to show KEZ purchasing Fortnite cheats. He reportedly paid over €600 for soft aim, this software is effectively a toned down aimbot, designed to go unnoticed.
Proof of Kez buying softaim. DM i got Dec 4 but didn't believe at the time pic.twitter.com/fH6AV60mc1
— NRG Beehive (@beehhive) December 14, 2020
People quickly started to question whether KEZ was cheating back in December last year, when his squad won the Fortnite Champion Series Grand Finals, securing a cool $187,500. General consensus is that this probably wasn’t the case, and that he only decided to try soft aim recently after a less successful 2020.
For KEZ’s innocent trio partners, this unfortunate drama means that despite placing well, there will be no reward for a gruelling weekend of competition in the Frosty Frenzy event. Nanolite and CizLucky handled the situation commendably, and are already on the hunt for a new third ahead of FNCS Trios.
Again, without official comment from Epic Games or KEZ, it is impossible to say for sure what happened. However, the lack of response from KEZ alone seems like damning evidence that the ban was justified.