Bungie wins lawsuit against player who harassed a Destiny community manager

Destiny 2 developer Bungie has won a half-a-million-dollar lawsuit against a player who not only doxxed but also harassed one of its community managers using personal information.

The details:

• After artwork from a fan was shared as part of the "My Destiny 2 Story" series, the player in question, Jesse James Corner, launched a "campaign of racist, stochastic terrorism" against the community manager and the studio. Corner then obtained the employee's phone number and proceeded to harass both them and their wife with voicemails requesting Bungie to add violently racist features to the game. He also threatened the couple, saying he knew where they lived and could harm them physically. In addition, he ordered a pizza to their house with the request that it be paid for upon delivery in an attempt to provoke a conflict between the employee and the delivery driver.
• Unsurprisingly, the harassment caused the community manager to take time away from their job, leading Bungie to track down the perpetrator and file a complaint with the King County Superior Court to hold him liable for all damages caused by his actions. Corner reportedly failed to appear in court to argue against the claims, resulting in the court issuing a default judgment, which means the player is liable for $489,435 in damages.
• Kathryn Tewson, a paralegal, shared the story on Twitter, writing that it was a "brag-worthy win" that will likely help pave the way for any future cases involving online harassment in the state of Washington. "We got an official judicial recognition of the threat and harm posed by the well-documented pattern of escalating harassment that can culminate in tragedy,” Tewson said. “In addition to finding that Washington employers can recover for damages for harassment of their employees under standard torts like nuisance and invasion of privacy, the Court also held that it would recognize A NEW TORT. By recognizing a new tort based on the Washington criminal statutes outlawing cyber and telephone harassment, the Court has created a path for those with the resources to identify stochastic terrorists and hold them accountable to do exactly that and recover their costs in court.”
• Bungie is no stranger to lawsuits, having won a string of legal battles against multiple cheat sellers in recent years. Earlier this year, the former Halo developer won a $4.4 million lawsuit against cheating service AimJunkies after the company was found liable for "trafficking in circumvention devices," which is a legal term for selling cheats. In May, another cheat seller, VeteranCheats, was ordered to pay $12 million in compensation for not only selling cheats but also infringing on the studio's copyright.

More gaming legal news:

• Following the announcement of the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) attempt to halt Microsoft's acquisition of publisher Activision-Blizzard, the Xbox parent has won the court battle against the US-based regulator. The CMA is now open to discussing possible amendments that the company can make to the deal to allow it to pass in the UK after its block in April.
• Yuji Naka, the co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog and other notable Sega titles, was found guilty of insider trading by the Tokyo District Court after being arrested twice on suspicion of the crime. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison with a four-year suspended sentence and ordered to pay two $1.2 million fines.