Epic Games is updating its zero-tolerance policy against cheaters in Fortnite, trying a more graduated approach with progressive punishments.

Beginning in April, cheaters will be given a one-year matchmaking ban on their first offense instead of a lifetime ban—unless they really screwed up.

Epic Games doesn't like cheaters. This has been a fact of life for a while now - those who cheat in Fortnite get Epic's lawyers real mad, and they've not been shy about going beyond what the law demands.

“Cheating is never a winning strat,” the competitive Fortnite X account posted on February 17. “We took legal action against a player who shared their account to unfairly qualify for FNCS. Now they’re banned from Fortnite tournaments forever and their undeserved prize money was donated to charity.”

Epic Games is introducing a “one-year matchmaking ban for first-time cheating offenses” in Fortnite, according to a blog post about its anti-cheat updates. However, “a second offense will result in a lifetime ban.

Fortnite is making big changes to its ban policies, and while it's giving some penalised players a second chance, it's not all good news for battle royale sinners — here's why