Cheating Made Destiny 2 Popular Claims Cheat Maker AimJunkies In Response To Bungie Lawsuit
Bungie has recently taken to the courtroom in its fight against cheaters. The Destiny 2 developer has already won a $13.5 million dollar lawsuit against Elite Boss Tech for violating its user agreement by distributing cheat software. Bungie has not always had success though. AimJunkies has already scored one minor victory with a judge dismissing Bungie’s initial claims of copyright infringement while arguing that “’cheating in Destiny 2’ is not, in and of itself, unlawful.”
Bungie lawyers refined their argument and refiled with additional details, but AimJunkies has been emboldened. “Do not believe everything you read in their filings,” says AimJunkies’ owner Phoenix Digital Group LLC. It asserts that “their most popular months of player counts and sales were during the time Aimjunkies offered their software products.” That is a very tall claim, but AimJunkies has subpoenaed Valve for information about the Destiny 2 player base in hopes of backing it up.
Even if Steam’s numbers end up correlating with AimJunkies’ availability, it does not prove causation. The additional activity could consist entirely of cheaters who only started the game because cheats exist, yes, but are those players wanted? Do these players end up handing more money over to Bungie or do they avoid further investment for the inevitability of their account getting banned?
AimJunkies believes instead of banning players, Bungie should move in the opposite direction. The Phoenix Digital Group statement states that it has reached out to Bungie for a more direct resolution. “Foremost we believe would be to [sic] implement our features in a version of their game for distribution,” reads the statement. In other words, it wants Bungie to bake some version of their cheat overlay right into the game.
The statement further alleges that Bungie, or a company working on behalf of Bungie, purchased AimJunkies' software for the purpose of decompiling it. It alleges that this is in turn a violation of its own copyrights and intends to prosecute. The cheat maker has issued subpoenas to PayPal and Google as well in an effort to unmask this supposed customer.
Phoenix Digital Group accuses Bungie of believing “the more s**t you throw at the wall, the greater the possibility of something sticking with the court,” but that is all AimJunkies’ own arguments seem to consist of. Whether it is the claim that cheating is not illegal or that cheating somehow boosts a game’s popularity, the fact remains that the focus of Bungie’s lawsuit is over violations of its terms and conditions. It seems AimJunkies is the party kicking up dirt to muddy the waters, but the court ultimately must have its say.
Image Credit: Bungie
