Bungie Has Won $4.3 Million In Mediation Against Cheat Supplier

The Destiny 2 creator sued AimJunkies.com back in 2021, and has finally got results.

Story Highlights

  • Bungie has won $4.3 million in damages and legal fees following an arbitration battle against cheat maker AimJunkies.com
  • Initially, judges didn’t side with the Destiny 2 creator but the website was eventually found violating DMCA-related protective measures.
  • Additionally, judges also found the website infringing consumer protection laws, resulting in a heavy penalty.

Cheating is a common theme in popular online games like Fortnite and Dota 2. Destiny 2 creator Bungie probably knows the best about cheating as it is a common theme in the FPS title. Regarding this topic, the company sued cheat-maker AimJunkies.com back in 2021 for infringement of copyright and other offenses.

This arbitration lasted for two years, with a lot of twists and turns during the process. However, the result has finally come out and Bungie has registered a triumphant victory and won $4.3 million in damages. DMCA violations relating to the software licensing agreement account for $3.6 million of this money, with legal expenses making up the other $700k.

Since 2021, this legal battle has been raging between Bungie, AimJunkies.com, and Phoenix Digital Group the owner of the website. Basically, the website in question creates aimbots for games like Destiny 2 and similar titles. When the legalities first started, AimJunkies argued that cheating isn’t breaking the law and the copyrights were registered after the cheats were supplied.

YouTube video

Initially, courts sided with the cheat-creating website, with a judge dismissing some of Bungie’s claims. According to him, there was not enough evidence to suggest any infringement of copyrights. However, the company refiled the lawsuit last May, with the judge referring the complaints to arbitration.

The defendant tried to take a more head-on approach this time, saying Bungie violated its copyright for the cheat code. But, this eventually didn’t come to anything as AimJunkies was at fault. Documents discovered by Torrent Freak tell us the website was responsible for the infringement of copyright.

According to the documents, one of the cheat manufacturers reverse-engineered the game code. Hence, they were able to make and sell aimbots because of this but forgot to check the legal books. The software licensing agreement at the start of Destiny 2 is in place to prevent such a situation, and this act violated it.

YouTube video

So, it turns out that AimJunkies and a third-party developer infringed these protections measure, violating the DMCA. The website’s non-cooperative behavior also did not help its case. Phoenix Digital group deleted records of the cheat software and AimJunkines’ owner lied about selling the site.

Circumventing the protection measure only resulted in a $255k fine, however. It was selling and shipping 1361 copies of cheats that resulted in $3.4 million worth of damages, due to breaking Bungie’s copyright protection. AimJunkies also had to pay the legal fees for the 2-year arbitration, adding $700k further to Bungie’s prize.

Even though the original judge did not think the website violated Bungie’s copyright, the new judge believed that it was against Washington’s consumer protection laws. Meaning cheats gave players an unfair advantage and the website selling them broke some laws. Hence, Bungie won this case in the end due to an amalgamation of these factors and walked away with over $4 million.

Did you find this helpful? Leave feedback below.

Thanks! Do share your feedback with us. ⚡

How can we make this post better? Your help would be appreciated. ✍

Community Feedback

just facts

Subscribe to our newsletter and get up-to-speed gaming updates delivered to your inbox.

We don’t spam! Read more in our privacy policy.

Source
Torrent Freak

Ahmed Mansoor is a News Writer who has a deep passion for single-player adventure games. He loves to keep tabs on the gaming and technology industries and loves to break stories that interest his audience. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and several years of experience writing for games. Experience: 3+ Years || Education: Bachelor's in Journalism || Written 600+ News Stories.

Related Articles

Join Our Community

Enjoyed this article? Discuss the latest gaming news, get expert help with guides and errors, and chat about all things gaming on eXputer Forums and Discord Server. Connect with fellow gamers who share your passion by becoming a part of eXputer's community.