Bungie has been awarded $4.3 million as a result of its first big legal win against a Destiny 2 cheat maker. AimJunkies has been handed a $3.6 million fine and an additional $738,000 to pay in legal fees. Not only is this great news for the Destiny 2 developer, but it also sets a precedent that other developers can use in similar cases in the future.
AimJunkies is a game cheat maker for various titles, including Destiny 2. These cheats can make it easier to hit enemies thanks to auto-aiming and provide other advantages that can push a player to outperform others in multiplayer game modes or simply boost their account. Some of the cheats the company has made in the past have been used by raid teams in Destiny 2 in their attempts to become the first group to finish a new raid. Thankfully, none of these attempts appear to have been successful, but it has always been a danger and source of controversy within the hardcore Destiny 2 community.
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Bungie’s case against AimJunkies was initially dismissed last year. This was due to AimJunkies successfully arguing that making cheats didn’t count as copyright infringement. The company’s lawyers pointed out that the hacks being used were wholly original and, therefore, Bungie’s argument was invalid. The company then went on the offensive by submitting subpoenas to various companies using this win against Bungie as an example. However, judges didn’t like this and dismissed the cases.
The win, reported today by Destiny Bulletin on Twitter, came out of arbitration. This essentially means that the dispute between Bungie and AimJunkies was submitted to one or more arbitrators who have made a binding legal decision about it. The choice to go through arbitration means this case won’t go to court, and the arguments and results will remain a secret.
As noted in the screenshot shared by Destiny Bulletin, AimJunkies has also entered a Permanent Injunction as of the end of January 2023. It’s not outlined what this is specifically, but we believe it’s fairly obvious that this Permanent Injunction prevents AimJunkies from making cheats for Destiny 2, and possibly any other Bungie properties, in the future.
Bungie should be able to rest easy now that the most egregious Destiny 2 cheat maker has been taken out of the equation. The developer is no doubt focused on the launch of the game’s next major expansion, Lightfall, which will be released next week following the epic conclusion to the final season of The Witch Queen’s year or so of content.
Published: Feb 21, 2023 04:52 am