'Fortnite' Summer Skirmish Winner iDropz_Bodies Didn't Cheat, Epic Says

Fortnite player iDropz_Bodies lit up the first day of Summer Skirmish Friday afternoon, but Epic wants fans to know the player didn’t cheat his way to victory. Epic Games community management addressed the recent controversy in a reddit post Friday morning.

Amongst the dozens of known Fortnite streamers in Friday’s Skirmish, iDropz_Bodies was personally invited to participate due to his strong performance in the public Solo Showdown event this May. Right from the start he took a commanding lead with two 20+-elimination matches in his first two rounds. This gave him a major point advantage in the matches to follow, and he was able to finish the night with a final score of 185. Second place finisher, Faze Cloak, stayed well behind the mark at 165.

iDropz_Bodies dominated Friday’s Summer Skirmish, but he didn’t cheat. Epic Games

Given that iDropz_Bodies was a fairly unknown name in the Fortnite scene, it didn’t take long for cheating allegations to start piling up. Especially when the user wasn’t locally streaming his own matches, his victories became difficult to track. Some claimed he was colluding with other players to get easy kills, while others suggested his performance was simply too good to be true.

Here’s a quick summary of Epic’s response to the matter:

iDropz_Bodies did not stream the event because he couldn’t enable the two-minute delay required for participants. This feature is not possible on console without being a Twitch affiliate.
iDroPz_BoDiEs had 129 eliminations during the event and every single elimination was on a different opponent. This is not indicative of him having been intentionally fed eliminations and/or collusion with other players.
iDroPz_BoDiEs did not join more than the specified 10 matches for the event.
iDroPz_BoDiEs has achieved more than 20 eliminations in a match multiple times across his Fortnite career. Stat tracking sites are often incorrect.
Even though iDroPz_BoDiEs played with a controller, Epic suggests performance between console and PC isn’t as different as some would like to believe.
There is no evidence to suggest iDroPz_BoDiEs used a mouse and keyboard.

Beyond Epic, other streamers have come to iDroPz_BoDiEs’ defense as well. I have known iDropz_Bodies for around three years. This guy is using a CONTROLLER,” Fortnite streamer SirDimetrious tweeted. “I expect some well thought out, written apologies from those who began the witch hunts,” Fortnite Pro WishYouLuck said of Epic’s post.

I have known @iDropz_Bodies for around 3 years. This guy is using a CONTROLLER. All will be revealed once he streams the replay files. Don’t be mad because your favorite streamer is losing.
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— 100T SirD (@SirDimetrious) July 20, 2018

As with most controversies, however, there are many skeptics who still aren't convinced. Common criticisms suggest iDropz_Bodies appeared to be too close to too many low-health players to not be colluding. His Twitch account has also been deleted as well, making many fans wonder if we’ll ever see the replays of his matches.

Whether iDropz_Bodies cheated or not, this story raises a few interesting questions. Can Fortnite Summer Skirmish results be trusted if, in fact, it’s possible to manipulate them? Are fans just acting salty because popular streamers like Ninja didn’t take the top prize? Epic’s response was swift and comprehensive, but for naysayers that will never be enough.

Fortnite is in early access across PS4, Xbox One, Switch PC and iOS. You can watch the second round of Solo Summer Skirmish here.

What’s your take on iDropz_Bodies’ performance at Summer Skirmish? Did he cheat? Tell us in the comments section!

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