Destiny 2 cheat seller ordered to pay Bungie $12 million in damages
by Danny Craig
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Bungie
Bungie's war on cheaters continues, with the company winning a lawsuit against a cheat vendor, who has now been ordered to pay $12,059,912.98 after being found to have committed multiple offenses.
The details:
- On April 27, the court ruled in Bungie's favor in its lawsuit against cheat seller Mihai Claudiu-Florentin, also known as VeteranCheats, who sold popular Destiny 2 cheats such as aimbots and wall hacks. Claudiu-Florentin has now been ordered to pay the company over $12 million in damages, including attorney fees, as well as a permanent injunction prohibiting them from engaging in content that violates Bungie's copyright.
- Bungie filed the lawsuit in 2021, claiming that VeteranCheats violated its copyright, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and the Washington Consumer Protection Act (CPA), and intentionally interfered with contractual relations. The studio requested $12 million in compensation, which was granted. The total includes $11,696,000 for DMCA violations ($2,000 for each of the 5,848 downloaded cheats), $146,662.28 for infringement of Bungie's copyright, and $217,250.70 in legal fees. Claudiu-Florentin was not found liable for CPA violations.
- Despite the ruling, VeteranCheats is still active and selling cheats for some of the most popular multiplayer games, such as VALORANT, Fortnite, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. It's still being determined whether the court's decision will have a long-term impact on the site, given the current epidemic of cheaters in online gaming, and the money is likely too much for sellers to part with. Given the harsh verdict, it may, fortunately, deter some.
Bungie’s previous legal victories against cheaters:
- Bungie won a $4.4 million lawsuit against cheat portal AimJunkies in February. The service was found to be liable for "trafficking in circumvention devices," with a cheat developer allegedly circumventing previous bans, in violation of Bungie's DMCA. AimJunkies attempted to countersue on several occasions, but the court dismissed each one.
- Elite Boss Tech, a cheat developer, settled its lawsuit against Bungie in June 2022 for $13.5 million. Bungie had requested that the cheating service take down the sites from which it distributed its cheats as part of the ruling. The claims made by the Destiny 2 developer were similar to those made against VeteranCheats, with both lawsuits filed around the same time in 2021.
