Every player in Destiny 2 knows it. Those logging into the Crucible now have to deal more often with annoying cheaters. Moreover, there is a rough tone in the community that includes everything from harassment to defamation and hate. But now the developer of the space shooter is taking a much more aggressive tone. Bungie’s top lawyer, Don McGowan, explains why.
What is going on in Destiny 2 right now? In recent months, there have been repeated issues with cheaters, cheat providers, copyright jokers, or players who have actively insulted and threatened both Bungie and other players.
In response to all this, Bungie followed up with an unprecedented wave of lawsuits and also drastically restricted communication with players until further notice.
- In August 2021, Bungie, along with Ubisoft, sued the aimbot and ESP cheat manufacturer Ring-1. However, the lawsuit is still ongoing and the cheats are still available.
- In March 2022, 96 false takedown notices led to YouTube strikes for well-known Destiny streamers. This was caused by Nicholas Minor, known as LordNazo, who wanted to retaliate against Bungie for his own ban. He subsequently received a €7.5 million damages lawsuit from the Destiny lawyers. The case is still ongoing.
- In April 2022, the next cheat provider was targeted. However, Bungie recently had to suffer a small defeat against AimJunkies. There could be an out-of-court settlement. AimJunkies is currently at least not offering any cheats for Destiny 2 anymore.
- In June 2022, Bungie won its lawsuit against the cheat manufacturer Elite Boss Tech and received €13 million for “unauthorized derivatives” due to copyright infringement.
- And in July 2022, Bungie directly sued a player for serial cheating and hate speech for the first time. He faces €2500 in damages for each instance where Luca Leone, known as “MiffysWorld,” used cheat software in Destiny 2. Alternatively, he is liable for approximately €147,000 “for each infringed copyrighted work” by Bungie.
Behind many of these lawsuits is Bungie’s top lawyer, Don McGowan. He is Bungie’s general counsel and thus the official external legal advisor of the shooter studio. Previously, he was already involved with Pokémon GO and oversaw Bungie’s spin-off from Microsoft Game Studios.
In an interview with Axios, the lawyer spoke about this quite new and aggressive legal strategy for Bungie and explained that they want to better protect honest players in the future.
Bungie is making “a good business” against cheaters and haters
According to Bungie’s lawyer, potential cheaters and haters have been tolerated for far too long. Therefore, they will now make a “strategic push”.
Often, developers have the ability and power to take action against this, he explains, but unfortunately, efforts are not focused enough on it.
This is a problem that affects many studios across the industry, and it is critical to address it in order to maintain a healthy and happy community that wants to play your game. Many game companies may avoid filing lawsuits because they don’t believe they can identify anonymous online perpetrators or don’t believe they can recoup costs for pursuing “cheaters, abusers, and harassers.”
Bungie’s lawyer Don McGowan explains
To put it simply: We disagree.
This will now change: Bungie will take a tougher stance as part of the new “legal strategy to improve the community around its games” in the future. On the one hand, to ensure that players can feel safe again, and on the other hand, so that Bungie employees can go about their work without being insulted, threatened, or harassed.
Bungie’s lawyer also openly admits that he sees this as “a good business”. How serious this aggressive push is for him was already demonstrated by the entry in the lawsuit against Nicholas Minor.
“Anyone who is foolish enough to voluntarily present themselves as a defendant and attack the Bungie community must expect serious consequences.”
Bungie’s lawyer Don McGowan emphasizes
Whether Bungie can win with this will be seen in the future. But it is also clear that many players in Destiny 2 do not want to be part of a community where cheating or harassment is normal.
What do you think about Bungie’s aggressive stance? Do you think this is the right way and in the interest of players, or do you believe Bungie needs to take other approaches as well? Please leave your opinions in the comments and let us know: Do you feel comfortable in the current Destiny 2 community?
