Destiny 2 cheat maker AimJunkies ordered to pay $4.4 million to Bungie

Bungie has won a $4.4 million lawsuit against Destiny cheat maker AimJunkies in arbitration.

As spotted by Destiny Bulletin, the studio has been awarded $3.6 million in damages and $738,000 in fees for a total judgement of $4.4 million after AimJunkies' owners and those working alongside them were found to have violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by developing and distributing cheats.

A court document shared by TorrentFreak shows that arbitrator Judge Ronald E. Cox agreed with Bungie that those involved with AimJunkies violated the provisions of the DMCA by circumventing technological measures by reverse engineering Destiny 2 to develop cheats.

Judge Cox said that AimJunkies also violated the DMCA Anti-circumvention law by trafficking cheats after selling more than 1,000 copies of the software, while also distributing more than 1,000 copies of the cheat loader used to "inject the cheats into the Destiny 2 process."

Bungie also successfully argued that AimJunkies breached the terms of the Limited Software License Agreement (LSLA) each Destiny 2 player must accept before accessing the title by violating the DMCA.

"The evidence concerning May [the respondent accused of developing the cheats] proves that he breached the LSLA multiple times by his reverse engineering of Destiny 2 an express condition of the license," reads the document. "Moreover, the evidence also shows that he did so in concert with Phoenix [the parent company of AimJunkies] and its owners."

Bungie convinced Judge Cox that the AimJunkies team were liable for tortious interference for gaining unauthorized access to Destiny 2, manipulating it, and then selling cheats to profit from those activities. 

After proving those claims, and more, Bungie was awarded reasonable attorney fees and damages.

Bungie targeting more Destiny cheat makers

The studio, however, isn't done yet. As clocked by Destiny Bulletin, Bungie has filed a lawsuit worth $6.7 million against Kunal Bansal, the owner of cheat website Lavicheats. The company is reportedly demanding at least $2,000 for each of the 2,790 cheats that have been sold though the website.

Bungie has seemingly been pursuing Lavicheats for some time. An update previously shared on the LaviCheats website confirmed it had become embroiled in a legal battle with Bungie, forcing it to halt sales.

"In response to being sued by Bungie, Lavicheats has decided to stop selling hacks for Destiny 2, which is complying with Bungie’s wishes stated in the lawsuit," reads the post. "Lavicheats still feels they are being bullied into this decision by Bungie."

This isn't the first time Bungie has taken aim at those selling and even using cheat software. Last year, the company sued one Destiny 2 player for using third-party cheats and harassing developers, and prior to that sued multiple companies responsible for the creation of distribution of cheats—even teaming up with Valorant maker Riot in the process.