Suing Trolls and Cheaters is the Best Path to 'Healthy Community,' Bungie Says

Studio Bungie has recently been using the court route more and more in its fight against cheatmakers, players who use cheats and people whose behavior severely harms the community of Destiny 2. In an interview with Axios the company's lawyers explained the reasons for these actions.

Why Bungie sues so often for cheats

Bungie's legal team is headed by Don McGowan, who was previously in charge of The Pokemon Company's legal department.

1. As McGowan explains, the frequent lawsuits are part of a larger strategy to combat cheaters and toxic players to ensure a "healthy community" for Destiny 2.
2. Many development studios are warding off legal battles, believing that cheats are an unpleasant but unavoidable part of online gaming. McGowan and Bungie do not share this attitude.
3. Ignoring cheaters and trolls discourages ordinary users from playing, so fighting such behavior is a priority for Bungie.
4. Some game developers also believe that it is often impossible to identify trolls and cheatmakers, but Bungie has shown that it can be done.
5. The studio also does not intend to tolerate the harassment of its employees by toxic community members of Destiny 2. The situation is so serious that Bungie has limited direct communication with players due to frequent threats against developers.
6. In cases where it is difficult to force a defendant to participate in the process, Bungie files motions for judgments in absentia.

Bungie's sues

Bungie had been preparing to implement this strategy since 2020. When it was finally implemented the studio wasted no time:

1. Last year, Bungie filed five lawsuits against cheatmakers focusing on Destiny 2. In two of these cases, settlements have already been negotiated, with the defendants agreeing to pay damages of $13.5 million and $2 million. In some of these cases, the studios were joined by Riot Games and Ubisoft, as cheat groups created cheat apps for those studios' productions as well.
2. In the spring of this year youtuber Lord Nazo was sued for impersonating employees of a company protecting the studio's brand in order to report videos of popular content creators from the Destiny 2 community. In this case, Bungie is seeking $7.7 million in damages.
3. A few weeks ago a streamer named Luca Leone was sued for using cheats in Destiny 2, attempting to circumvent bans, threatening Bungie employees and selling (via the OGUsers forum) emblems and social media accounts related to Destiny 2, which allegedly violated the studio's copyrights. In this case, the company is demanding $150,000 in damages for each copyright infringement. And $2.5 thousand for each use of cheats.
4. The studio's lawyers suggest that more lawsuits are in the pipeline.

One of the lawsuits includes Bungie's motivation encompassed in the following statement, intended as a warning to trolls and cheaters:

1. Bungie - official website
2. PlayStation - official website