Destiny 2 cheat maker sues Bungie for hacking its cheats

Destiny 2 cheat maker AimJunkies has now countersued Bungie as part of the pair's ongoing legal battle, accusing the developer of hacking a private computer and breaking terms of service by reverse-engineering software after purchasing it under an alias. 

The newly minted lawsuit (hosted via The Game Post) lists multiple counterclaims filed on behalf of James May, an individual under AimJunkies, and Phoenix Digital, the group's parent company. The suit claims that Bungie accessed May's private computer and files without permission, and that it would have had to in order to obtain the evidence it presented in its own legal filings. 

These claims invoke the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and point to an older version of Bungie's licensing agreement which, unlike the current version, doesn't contain a clause about checking certain files for anti-cheat purposes. The suit claims May signed Bungie's LSLA before this clause was added. 

This "unauthorized and clandestine surveillance of private records" is described as "intentional, malicious, and willful," and May is seeking "injunctive relief and damages." The claim would also see "any device or product in Bungie’s custody or control" that was involved in the alleged surveillance impounded, modified, or outright destroyed. 

Phoenix Digital's claims, meanwhile, focus on the terms of service for AimJunkies products. The company claims that an "employee or agent" of Bungie purchased AimJunkies' Destiny 2 cheats under the alias Martin Zeniu in early 2020, accepting the company's terms of service in the process. These terms prohibit any attempt to "modify, hack, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, derive source code, or create derivative works of our software," and Phoenix Digital is now accusing Bungie of just that. 

Both counterclaim plaintiffs are pushing for a trial by jury, not to mention a lengthy relief quest calling for Bungie and related parties to be barred from accessing May and Phoenix Digital's computers, and for it to transfer and then destroy all copies of the files it's allegedly reverse-engineered or otherwise obtained. 

These claims would need to be vetted and held up in court, but the fact that this countersuit was filed at all distinguishes this case from Bungie's previous legal battles against cheaters, like the $13.5 million settlement that came from its suit against Elite Boss Tech. Incidentally, that suit also cited Bungie's LSLA, dismissed Bungie's claims of copyright infringement, and was once set to go to trial. But simply put, AimJunkies' defense seems a bit more concrete, so the future of its case is much more up in the air. 

Bungie has also sued a Destiny 2 cheater who allegedly threatened to "burn down" the studio.