A 29-year-old Alabama man has been arrested and charged after Epic Games reported threats he allegedly made over Fortnite voice chat to the FBI, according to a federal affidavit first reported by Aftermath and covered by IGN and Dexerto. Dexerto reported that the arrest came on September 23.
Per the affidavit, Epic made a voluntary emergency disclosure to the FBI's National Threat Operations Section on September 20 concerning a player using the name WagesOfNinja. The company provided account information along with an audio recording and a transcript of the statements, and investigators used records to connect the account to the man. Dexerto reported that Epic also disclosed the account had been accessed more than 1,700 times from IP addresses that geolocated to Alabama.
In the recordings, the player allegedly said he wanted to "literally murder somebody" and that he would shoot FBI agents if they came to his door. The affidavit also describes further alleged statements about violence against police, and an FBI agent who reviewed the audio confirmed that the quoted statements were accurately transcribed, Dexerto reported.
The man was indicted on September 23 on an interstate threatening communications charge and pleaded not guilty the following day. According to Dexerto, a September 29 detention order remanded him to a corrections facility pending a trial that was expected in December.
How Epic receives voice chat
Dexerto noted that the affidavit does not explain exactly how Epic obtained the recordings. Fortnite's voice reporting system, which Epic introduced in November 2023, keeps the most recent five minutes of voice chat on a player's device when enabled; filing a report sends that audio to Epic's moderation team for review. Epic has said it cannot access voice chat audio unless reporting is turned on and a participant submits a report.
Depending on the severity of what is reported, players can face bans, IGN noted. Fortnite text chat can also be reported and is stored for 30 days, and Epic uses automated systems to detect harmful language, including threats of real-world violence, according to IGN.
