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Destiny 2 Cheat Seller Loses Lawsuit
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Destiny 2 Cheat Seller Loses Lawsuit, Owes Bungie Millions in Damages

Sean Morrison , , , , , , , ,

Mihai Claudiu-Florentin of Romania faced a court case with Bungie due to the sale of cheats in the game Destiny 2. This software developed by the national allowed gamers to have an unfair edge, like being able to see through walls and improved aiming capabilities in Destiny 2.

When the legal action was first taken in 2021, Claudiu-Florentin had developed and distributed the VeteranCheats software which allowed users to cheat in games such as Destiny 2, Valorant, Apex Legends, and Overwatch. Bungie managed to uncover 5,848 downloads of the software related to Destiny 2; as a result, in February 2023, they requested a payment of $12,059,912.98. This sum was made up of $11,696,000 in statutory damages ($2,000 for every download in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act), $146,662.28 in actual damages for copyright infringement, and $217,250.70 for legal fees and costs.

The Court gave Bungie complete compensation, as well as a permanent prohibition against Claudiu-Florentin to keep him from partaking in any more activities that would infringe upon Bungie’s or DMCA’s copyright. Interestingly, the VeteranCheats website is still active, providing cheats for a plethora of popular games, except for Destiny 2. It was revealed in the course of the lawsuit that Bungie had spent a base of two million dollars on security staffing and software to oppose VeteranCheats and other cheating software.

Bungie has been very proactive in the last few years in regards to going after creators and sellers of cheats. Last June, they reached a settlement with Elite Boss Tech requiring payment of $13,530,000 in statutory damages; the report stated that the cheat software had been downloaded 6,765 times. Additionally, they collaborated with Riot Games and Ubisoft to take down GatorCheats and Ring-1 who produced cheats for Destiny 2 , Valorant , and Rainbow Six Siege. Bungie was also the victim of fraudulent copyright strikes on their YouTube channel, which led to them filing a lawsuit and winning $150,000 in statutory damages.

In an effort to protect players who play games like Destiny 2 fairly, Bungie has gone after those who create and sell cheat software. Even though this is a step in the right direction, there is still much more to be done in order to eliminate the ability of illegitimate players to ruin the gaming experience for everyone else.

The latest installment of Destiny 2 is now accessible on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.