Video game developer Bungie, the developer of Destiny 2 and Halo 3, has reportedly won its first lawsuit against Phoenix Digital, also known as Aimjunkies. As the lawsuit only concerned revenue generated by cheats, Bungie will receive $63,210 in damages.
While cheating in games is not illegal, reverse engineering a game (specifically Destiny 2) to discover cheats violates the company's copyright, which allowed Bungie to sue the creators of the cheats.
(Photo: Olya Adamovich, Pixabay)
According to sources, Aimjunkies also alleged that Bungie had infringed copyright by hacking into employees' PCs. Bungie countered that this was simply a normal procedure for identifying cheaters and was protected by the game's EULA. The judge dismissed Aimjunkies' claims.
While the $63,210 isn't a huge amount of money for Bungie, it does set a precedent for how game companies can pursue cheaters legally in the future. Phoenix Digital and Aimjunkies have said they will appeal the ruling.
The jury handed down its verdict on May 25th, likely the first game cheating case to be decided by a jury in the United States. The verdict puts Bungie at the forefront of the movement to punish cheaters.
In recent years, several notable cheat sites have been shut down due to legal action by Activision Blizzard, Bungie, Riot, and Epic Games.
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Video game cheating scandal
Most notably, in February 2023, two members of the notorious Call of Duty cheat-making organization EngineOwning were heavily fined for creating exploits to circumvent the anti-cheat engine used in Activision Blizzard games such as Modern Warfare 2 .
At the time, players lamented that hackers were using illegal third-party software to circumvent the game's ranked play feature and exploit Modern Warfare 2's built-in anti-cheating system, RICOCHET.
A judge ruled in favor of Activision and imposed heavy fines on two cheat developers employed by EngineOwning. According to early reports, Activision sued EngineOwning, claiming that the well-known video game publisher had suffered millions of dollars in damages due to EngineOwning's destructive cheats and hacks. After the case raged in court for some time, the judge decided to give a fair ruling.
The ruling states that Ignacio Gayduchenco and Manuel Santiago must pay a total of $3 million in fines to Activision for hacking and cheating using EngineOwning.
Additionally, the responsible parties were permanently banned from creating software that could be used to circumvent games' end user license agreements or terms of use in the future.
Cheat Developer Resilience
Although anti-cheat programs are sophisticated and constantly evolving, cheat creators continue to surprise publishers with ingenious new tools and methods, leading many publishers to seek legal assistance in putting a stop to this activity.
A significant and costly judgment in Activision's lawsuit against EngineOwning and several other companies for cheating practices that gave players illegal winning paths in competitive games like Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 would have far-reaching effects on these businesses.
Related article: Activision introduces fun “Splat” feature to combat cheaters in Call of Duty: Warzone
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