Bungie says a Destiny 2 cheater must pay $12m (£9.8m) in damages for allegedly creating and selling a variety of cheats for online FPS gaming, including damages- legal interests and covering Bungie’s own legal fees, in a case dated August 2021. The motion, brought on behalf of Bungie, follows the release of the Strand Subclass trailer, prior to the date of Destiny 2 Lightfall full release.

Bungie and its legal team have filed a lawsuit against defendant Mihai Claudiu-Florentin, who allegedly operated the VentureCheats site. Bungie alleges that the sale of Destiny 2 cheats by Claudiu-Florentin and the other VentureCheats operators “caused concrete and irreparable harm to Bungie and the Destiny 2 community”, and is now seeking approximately $12 million in damages.

“The award sought by Bungie in this matter is significant because Claudiu-Florentin’s manifestly unlawful conduct has caused Bungie substantial harm under various applicable laws,” says the motion, filed by Bungie’s attorneys.

“While Bungie cannot accurately estimate the amount of these damages, it has spent over $2 million to mitigate fraud (including personnel and software) since November 2020, when [payment protection and anti-fraud system] Stripe has recorded the first Claudiu-Florentin transaction involving a Destiny 2 hack.

In the petition, Bungie and its legal team list 5,848 cheat cases provided by VentureCheats used in Destiny 2, but say that number may not be accurate. “The 5,848 figure does not include the thousands of bypasses perpetrated by Claudiu-Florentin customers each time they loaded cheats and used them to play Destiny 2 for nearly two years,” the motion reads.

The move comes as Bungie releases the Destiny 2 Strand trailer, which highlights the new subclass ahead of the Destiny 2 Lightfall expansion’s full release.

“In these circumstances, an award of $11,696,000 in damages is entirely appropriate. In fact, if Claudiu-Florentin’s conduct does not warrant a substantial reward, it is hard to imagine what the circumstances might.”

Bungie is also seeking $146,662 in copyright infringement damages and $217,250 to cover its own legal costs. In addition to damages, Bungie is seeking a “permanent injunction” against Claudiu-Florentin, prohibiting the defendant from “developing, marketing, distributing, trafficking, or otherwise profiting from cheats targeting Destiny 2 or other games. Bungie”.

Stay up to date with Destiny 2 Season 19 using our Spire of the Watcher dungeon and Revision Zero Exotic quest guides. You can also check out the best Destiny 2 builds for the perfect weapons and gear.

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