Destiny 2 Sues Streamers Over “Serial Cheating” and Hate Speech – “An Absolute Shame on Us Guardians”

No more fun in Destiny 2. After players have repeatedly made threats against Bungie, they are now sending out a clear signal. Not only against hate, but also against fraud. The developer filed a lawsuit against a streamer who apparently committed “series fraud”, repeatedly threatened employees and wanted to “burn down” Bungie’s headquarters.

What kind of lawsuit has Bungie filed? The lawsuit, filed July 15 in a Washington circuit court, targets the 19-year-old Destiny 2 player and streamer “Miffy’s World”. Also known as “Luca Leone” from Los Angeles.

At Bungie, it was probably initially assumed that he was “just” another cheater who, after 13 bans and no insight whatsoever, they wanted to legally put a stop to. But the investigation revealed much more.

It turns out that “MiffysWorld,” which also goes by the Twitter handle “inkcel,” apparently even publicly threatened to “burn down” Bungie’s headquarters. And that wasn’t even the worst thing that was discovered.

Bungie is currently accusing him of multiple misdemeanors. In doing so, he committed “a series of frauds”:

• The Destiny 2 player and streamer is said to have created numerous accounts to avoid the multiple bans against him again and again.
• He has also traded and sold non-transferrable items. Including some items that Bungie created for charity, in violation of the Destiny 2 Software License and Terms of Service.
• He also apparently traded Destiny 2 emblems via stolen social media accounts.

In addition to these allegations, it is above all the strikingly great hatred of Bungie as a game developer, which is also explicitly mentioned in the lawsuit against the streamer. Despite the bans on his accounts, he just keeps going.

Showing pride without remorse and insight on Twitter: His great displeasure with Bungie employees, which is now also explicitly mentioned in the lawsuit against the streamer, is particularly striking. After probably almost 13 blocks against his accounts, he became increasingly personal and openly spread his hatred on Twitter.

So he wrote as the Torrentfreak website reports, for example:

Bungie will NEVER be able to stop me if I persist in my actions. Let’s just remember that this all started with a clip of me starring in [unendlich Munition] and fly an aimbot. And then let’s stop answering.

should Luca according to TorrentFreak have said

Public Threats Against Bungie Employees: In addition to breaking the Bungie licenses through his excessive cheating, “Luca Leone” also becomes personal. He specifically threatened Bungie Community Manager Dylan Gaffner, alias dmg04 on Twitter.

On May 18, 2022, he posted a picture of dmg04 on Twitter and wrote: “I just realized I’m going to a place [in Seattle] gonna pull that 30 minutes of dmg [Gafner] removed – he is not safe.”

The lawsuit also mentions that it wasn’t just these personal threats that he made. His primary goal also appears to have been to “burn down” Bungie’s headquarters.

This case isn’t the first time players have vented their anger against the developer.

This sensitive penalty awaits the streamer: His actions have far-reaching consequences, since all of his actions, according to Bungie, were premeditated.

• The lawsuit seeks “the destruction of all cheat software in the defendant’s possession”
• “The Deletion of All Destiny 2 and Bungie Accounts Created by Defendant.”
• About 2500 euros in damages for each case in which “MiffysWorld” used cheat software in Destiny 2.
• Or, alternatively, a claim for around EUR 147,000 “for each copyrighted work that has been infringed”.

What does the Destiny 2 community have to say about this? The majority of players welcome Bungie’s actions. Especially because it not only sends a clear signal against cheating, but also against hatred.

Well, people need to learn that threats and harassment are not to be taken lightly and that there are consequences!

writes the player @AD2P_Twitch via Twitter

This opinion is also Shiro, who was also tired of how many players get away with hate and threats without consequences. He wrote on Twitter that he was “tired of seeing people get away with threatening the lives of developers because they can’t control themselves.”

However, there are also other voices in the community who view the young age of the defendant “Luca Leone”, who streamed online under the name “MiffysWorld”, as critical. So says the player Ungren-3:

He shouldn’t have done it, but he shouldn’t have had his life ruined for it either.

Why is this lawsuit so important? It has certainly happened more than once that Bungie has been forced to take legal action. For example, if the developer takes action against cheat developers again, who then give in and pay 1,900 euros for each cheater.

But it no longer affects “only the big ones”. Meanwhile, the developer is also cracking down on the actions of players who just wanted to teach Bungie “a lesson”. For example, posing as employees of Bungie’s brand protection service to provoke YouTube strikes against known Destiny streamers.

This case also shows that the developer is simply no longer willing to put up with everything. Above all to protect its employees, who are in the middle of the community and are too often exposed to the direct hatred of toxic players.

This is how dmg04, Bungie Community Manager, explains via Twitter in response to his colleague Drew Tucker, Co-lead Accessibility at Bungie:

It was a difficult situation. Confront the abuse and try to stop it, but potentially do more harm to yourself (and the people you care about), or quietly tolerate endless harassment? I hope that the continued discussion of harassment in the gaming industry leads to action, improvement, and healing. For employees, for community members… for everyone.

comments dmg04 as an affected Bungie employee on the situation on Twitter

What do you think of the lawsuit? Did Bungie do the right thing with this? Or do you think this was just a childish joke by a young gamer that game developers just have to tolerate? Let us know what you think about it in the comments.