Arcade gaming legend Billy "King of Kong" Mitchell has secured a significant victory in court, winning nearly a quarter of a million dollars in damages after a defamation lawsuit against Australian YouTuber Karl Jobst. As reported by PC Gamer, Jobst, known for his content on competitive and speedrunning gaming, featured Mitchell in his video titled "The Biggest Conmen in Video Game History Strike Again!" which amassed 500,000 views. The court found that Jobst's video defamed Mitchell by including inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims.
Mitchell's gaming accolades faced scrutiny in 2018 when his scores were removed from Twin Galaxies' leaderboards amid allegations that he used MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) instead of arcade cabinets to achieve records in games such as Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong Jr., which violates the rules. After a six-year battle, Mitchell successfully had his records reinstated in a "historical database" on Twin Galaxies' website, and his scores were also recognized again by the Guinness World Records in 2020.
Billy "King of Kong" Mitchell has won a defamation lawsuit against Australian YouTuber Karl Jobst. Photo by David Greedy/Getty Images.
However, Mitchell's defamation lawsuit against Jobst was not about the validity of his Donkey Kong scores. Instead, Mitchell took legal action because he claimed Jobst's 2021 video falsely suggested that his previous lawsuit against another YouTuber, Benjamin "Apollo Legend" Smith, led to Smith paying $1 million in damages and contributed to Smith's suicide in 2020. The video also allegedly implied that Mitchell had "expressed joy at the thought" of Smith's suicide.
After Mitchell threatened legal action, Jobst edited the video, and Smith's brother confirmed no money had been paid. Jobst acknowledged his loss on X/Twitter, stating, "The judge found Billy to be a credible witness and believed his entire testimony." He clarified that he did not accuse Mitchell of cheating and that his claims about Smith were based on "incorrect information from multiple sources."
Jobst added, "From that point on unfortunately there was really nothing that could have saved me. I will now obviously consider my options. I know many of you will be upset with this and I am sorry for that. Thank you again for all the support I have received and I will endeavor to work as hard as I can to repay all that you are owed. I am proud that I never backed down and never allowed a bully to control my free expression."
The judge ordered Jobst to pay $187,800 (AU$300,000) for non-economic loss damages, $31,300 (AU$50,000) for aggravated damages, and $22,000 (AU$34,668.50) in interest, totaling approximately $241,000. The judge noted, "[Mitchell] may well have been justified in being ordered to pay more than AU$50,000 in aggravated damages, but that is the amount being sought by Mr Mitchell and that is the amount I shall award."
Mitchell, who achieved a perfect score in Pac-Man in the '80s, gained further fame through the 2007 documentary, "King of Kong," which highlighted his rivalry with Steve Wiebe.
