Destiny 2 dev steps up anti-cheat lawsuits as Lightfall expansion nears

Bungie is stepping up its legal efforts against Destiny 2 cheat manufacturers on the eve of Lightfall's launch.

Earlier today on February 21, TorrentFreak reported that Bungie was awarded $4.3 million in arbitration against cheat sellers AimJunkies. A judge ruled that AimJunkies "violated the DMCA's anti-circumvention provision and related trafficking restrictions," and awarded Bungie $3.6 million in damages, with an added $700,000 in fees.

Elsewhere, Bungie is initiating a lawsuit against LaviCheats to the tune of $6.7 million (as per Destiny Bulletin on Twitter). Bungie reportedly wants "$2,000 for each of the 2,790 cheat software" that have been downloaded from the website of LaviCheats. Unlike the AimJunkies case, this battle between Bungie and LaviCheats has only just begun, so settle in for a lot of back-and-forth between the two parties.

Bungie has actually done this before with a lawsuit, requesting Elite Tech Boss pay them $2,000 for every time a cheat was downloaded as of last year in June 2022. It's curious that Bungie is requesting the exact same amount per cheat downloaded now with LaviCheats as they did with Elite Tech Boss, but there could well be legal workings here that we're just not privy to.

After Bungie initially sued AimJunkies last year in 2022, the cheat manufacturer countersued the Destiny 2 developer in September 2022, which was summarily dismissed by a judge in November 2022. In dismissing the countersuit, the judge basically told AimJunkies to come back and prove their allegations of Bungie hacking a private computer in an attempt to shut them down.

AimJunkies could prove no such thing, and now we're finally at the end of the very long legal road between the cheat seller and Bungie. If Bungie is granted the full amount requested from LaviCheats, the developer will have effectively sued cheat manufacturers for right around $11 million over the past few months. That's on top of the whopping $13.5 million Elite Tech Boss was ordered to pay the developer last year.

The Destiny 2 Lighfall release date is set for later this month on February 28. With a major new expansion right around the corner, it's no wonder Bungie is trying to clean house of cheat manufacturers before the new DLC launches.

Check out our Destiny 2 weapons expert visit guide for how to get the Revision Zero catalysts analyzed.