by
Jason Parker
in Fortnite | Jun, 28th 2021

A Fortnite pro by the name of Wavyjacob got hit with a ban mid-tournament this week for exploiting the rules. It wasn’t for hacking, otherwise, that would have likely been listed under cheating. His ban time? Originally it was 182 days, but it was later reduced to just two weeks. The fact that the ban still exists is interesting though. Wavyjacob was banned mid-tournament in Fortnite, but he wasn’t using that name. Instead, he was using a name that might strike as suspicious.

“R23ln1664W4v7” Was His Name

Wavyjacob was not playing under his usual name, but under the moniker “r23ln1664W4v7”. The name spells out something that Fortnite does not (or should not) allow players to put in the game. He wasn’t cheating, but he was avoiding the in-game name censors, which is still a punishable offense. The Fortnite pro understood why he was being banned, but it’s the actual length of time that frustrated him.

Someone on Twitter pointed out that it was his in-game name that got Wavyjacob banned in Fortnite, and he responded with:

“Yeah I know, but they coulda put the user-3978939 bs or reduce the ban like cmon 181 days bc of the name but you got people who cheat and get banned for 2 months lmao,” and in a follow-up tweet he said, “6 month ban for a name but people cheat and get banned for 1 month #freewavy.”

#Freewavy was tweeted by any number of Fortnite pros, such as FaZe Sway and TSM FTX’s Comadon. While many Fortnite pros and fans sympathize, breaking the rules in any manner isn’t the move to make. Sounds like he’s got no choice but to wait it out. At least the 180+ day ban was reduced down to just two weeks, according to a report on Reddit. It wasn’t a name placed by accident, but perhaps he thought the punishment wouldn’t be so bad. One reason perhaps Epic Games cracks down on names like that in their games, at least on the tournament side, is sponsorships.

Seeing that sort of language in a game marketed at kids is certainly going to upset sponsors and upset parents. So for now, Wavyjacob continues to be banned in Fortnite, as of this writing.