Remember kids, cheaters never win and winners never cheat — especially if those cheaters are also accused of copyright infringement, fraud and harassment against the makers of the very game upon which they’re playing and profiting.
That’s the current situation surrounding Destiny 2 streamer Luca Leone, also known as “miffysworld” on Twitch, whose conduct (which Bungie had already banned him 13 times for in 2022) including cheating in Destiny 2, such as streaming video of himself cheating in-game, utilizing various sock puppet accounts to try and circumvent the bans Bungie penalized him with and selling nontransferable in-game items — made Destiny 2 developers Bungie’s decision to bring the lawsuit against him an uncomplicated one.
“That combination of conduct makes Bungie’s decision to bring this lawsuit easy,” Bungie said in a lawsuit filed last week.
Bungie
“Leone has now made thirteen separate accounts in his attempts to evade the ban, and each new account was therefore a separate breach of the LSLA” [Limited Software License Agreement] by which Bungie makes Destiny 2 available to players,” the studio added.
As if Luca Leone’s in-game conduct wasn’t enough, his retaliation to being banned by Bungie turned out to be even more abhorrent.
“Leone has also repeatedly made threats targeting Bungie and its employees, tweeting about his desire to “burn down” Bungie’s office building and declaring that specific Bungie employees were “not safe” given Leone’s intent to move into their neighborhood,” the lawsuit cited. Since this accusation, Leone’s threatening tweets have been subsequently hidden from public view.
“It would be a vast understatement to merely describe Leone as a serial ban evader and cheater,” the lawsuit continues, making it clear that Leone has “repeatedly livestreamed himself cheating at Destiny 2.” The complaint also includes another Twitter conversation where Leone boats of bypassing a Bungie hardware ban. “Bungie will NEVER be able to stop me,” Leone allegedly tweeted in early June.
Bungie
Bungie is seeking statutory damages of $150,000 for each copyrighted work infringed, as well as $2500 for each time Leone used cheating software. The company also appealed that, “Leone be permanently enjoined from harassing, stalking, or otherwise engaging in unwanted or unsolicited contact with Bungie, its employees, or Destiny 2 players.”
This marks the second time Bungie has taken legal action against a Destiny 2 streamer for illegal activity during the past few months, as the company also filed a lawsuit last month against a Destiny 2 streamer for over $7,650,000 in damages for impersonating the company in order to issue a series of spurious DMCA strikes against fellow content creators.
Did you ever think you’d see the headline, “Bungie sues Destiny 2 streamer suspected of cheating, harassment and fraud” in your lifetime? Is the company right to pursue legal action against Leone for the cheating he’s done in Destiny 2 and the subsequent threats he’s thrown at the company as a result? Sound off in the comments.
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