Epic Games Sues Former Contractor Hayden Cohen Over Fortnite Leaks

Epic Games has sued Hayden Cohen, identifying him in a federal complaint as the person behind the widely followed Fortnite leak account AdiraFNInfo, which posted nonpublic collaboration details to X and Discord and attracted over 13,000 followers. The company says the leaks included multiple high-profile crossover reveals and that the activity harmed partner relationships and player engagement.

The complaint was filed March 5, 2026 in the Eastern District of North Carolina, and Epic publicly shared the filing on social media. The suit quotes the complaint language that the defendant “repeatedly misappropriated Epic's trade secret information and broadcasted it publicly through his anonymous social media accounts on X (formerly Twitter) and Discord, operating under the alias 'AdiraFN' and 'AdiraFNInfo'.” Epic also told the court the leaked information “could not have been obtained through any legitimate means and was not otherwise available to the public (such as through data mining public builds of Fortnite for unreleased content).”

Court papers identify Cohen as an associate producer who worked for Epic through a third-party staffing agency and who gained access to non-public Epic materials after completing security training. The complaint records a September 11, 2025 non-disclosure agreement Cohen allegedly signed, and sources report two competing timelines for the leaks: Game Rant says Cohen began leaking “within weeks” of that NDA, while Game Developer describes the sharing of unreleased content in January and February 2026, with leaks reported between late 2025 and late February 2026.

Epic’s filing and reporting link the alleged leaks to specific franchises and collaborations including Minecraft, Game of Thrones, Overwatch, Peak, South Park, and Kingdom Hearts. Epic lawyers say Cohen “had access to and viewed additional collaborations that Epic has yet to announce,” and the company claims it incurred “substantial costs and expenses” while investigating and trying to stop the disclosures.

Epic says it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Cohen on February 20, 2026, later cut off his access to internal systems, and alleges he has “yet to fully comply.” The exact line from Epic’s public statement reads: “Today we took legal action against a former contractor who repeatedly leaked confidential partner IP and trade secrets that they received while working with Epic. We absolutely do not allow this and will continue to take action when Epic team members share confidential info. It harms our partners and makes it harder to bring awesome IP to our games.”

The AdiraFNInfo account “silently deactivated all of their social media accounts” on February 23, 2026, and players publicly speculated at the time that the operator had been caught. Epic has not said how it identified Cohen as the operator, no statement from Cohen or a representative is reported, and the suit is a civil filing; no criminal charges have been disclosed. The complaint is now on file in the Eastern District of North Carolina and will determine what damages Epic seeks and whether the public record will reveal the investigative evidence the company used to name Cohen.