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Bungie to receive $13.5 million from Destiny 2 cheat distributor

Bungie to receive $13.5 million from Destiny 2 cheat distributor
Russell Kidson

Russell Kidson

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In a move poised to end a massive copyright infringement lawsuit, a company responsible for developing cheat codes used in Destiny 2 has agreed to pay games developer Bungie 13.5 million dollars in damages. Bungie has further filed a permanent injunction against the creation of any new software used for cheating in destiny 2 and any other title they’ve developed. 

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Anti-cheat technology is a valuable commodity for game developers to invest in. However, the wheels of justice may be called upon to begin turning in the event that one threat actor lies behind a developer’s decision to implement rigorous strategies for mitigating cheating within their games. According to court documents and a recent report from TorrentFreak, this is the exact course of events that transpired between Elite Boss Tech, a cheat creation company based in Canada and Bungie.

According to Bungie, Elite Boss Tech violated the terms of Destiny 2’s end-user licence agreement by creating cheats for the game. Elite Boss Tech also stands accused of threatening the game’s commercial viability by disrupting player experiences and therefore damaging Destiny 2’s reputation. In addition, bungee also claims that it has had to spend ‘exorbitant amounts of money’ in developing anti-cheat technology to combat Elite Boss Tech’s actions. 

Elite Boss Tech has claimed that it has never copied the code of Destiny 2 and that numerous claims made by Bungie are based on inoperative statements from its Limited Software Licence Agreement. Even so, the company has agreed to the settlement of 3.5 million dollars in damages, a number that was calculated on the frequency with which Elite Boss Tech’s cheating software was downloaded. In total, the software has been downloaded 6765 times, and each download carries a penalty of $2000. 

As stated in the settlement: ‘This permanent injunction is binding against Defendants worldwide, without regard to the territorial scope of the specific intellectual property rights asserted in the Complaint and may be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction wherever Defendants or their assets may be found.’

While Bungie bleeds the manufacturers of cheating software dry, Call of Duty’s #TeamRICOCHET is going after those who use it. In a highly amusing recent development, this anti-cheater task force has decided to disarm, and de-fist any players caught cheating in Call of Duty.

Russell Kidson

Russell Kidson

I hail from the awe-inspiring beauty of South Africa. Born and raised in Pretoria, I've always had a deep interest in local history, particularly conflicts, architecture, and our country's rich past of being a plaything for European aristocracy. 'Tis an attempt at humor. My interest in history has since translated into hours at a time researching everything from the many reasons the Titanic sank (really, it's a wonder she ever left Belfast) to why Minecraft is such a feat of human technological accomplishment. I am an avid video gamer (Sims 4 definitely counts as video gaming, I checked) and particularly enjoy playing the part of a relatively benign overlord in Minecraft. I enjoy the diverse experiences gaming offers the player. Within the space of a few hours, a player can go from having a career as an interior decorator in Sims, to training as an archer under Niruin in Skyrim. I believe video games have so much more to teach humanity about community, kindness, and loyalty, and I enjoy the opportunity to bring concepts of the like into literary pieces.

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