Bungie has settled a copyright lawsuit with writer Matthew Martineau after he alleged the studio had used elements of his work in Destiny 2, including its Red War plot and the Curse of Osiris expansion.
As spotted by The Game Post, the case has now been settled, although the terms of that settlement – including any conditions or compensation – have not been made public.
Bungie unsuccessfully tried to dismiss the lawsuit – which alleged it plagiarised elements of Destiny 2’s original campaign from a story Martineau posted online – back in May, but a US federal judge ruled that the lawsuit should continue as Bungie had been unable to provide satisfactory evidence to have the case tossed out. That evidence could have been a working copy of Destiny 2 featuring the game’s original story campaign, but this – alongside many other, older parts of the game – are no longer playable, having been excised and relegated to Bungie’s controversial content “vault”.
“A settlement conference was conducted on this date before the undersigned Magistrate Judge,” the filing reads. “Negotiations were successful and resulted in the settlement of all claims. The Court thanks counsel and the parties for their efforts in bringing this matter to an amicable resolution.”
Parties have sixty days to contest the decision and proceed to court, but as it stands, “all parties have firmly agreed upon a compromise”.
It follows a difficult year for the embattled studio, which has been accused of plagiarism across both its Marathon and Destiny 2 brands, and was forced earlier this year to admit that an external artist’s work had been used within upcoming game Marathon without consent. This wasn’t the first time Bungie has faced claims of using artists’ work without permission, with multiple instances coming to light regarding designs for Destiny 2.
It’s also facing a $200m “wrongful dismissal” lawsuit from Destiny 2 and Marathon reboot director Christopher Barrett. Earlier this year, Sony responded by detailing Barrett’s alleged ‘disturbing communications’ with female subordinates – including “sexually charged games of ‘Truth or Dare'”.
Earlier this week we learned Destiny 2 had not reached expectations following Sony’s $3.6bn acquisition of Bungie. In its latest earnings report, Sony recorded a loss in profit in its games segment due to “impairment losses against a portion of Bungie, Inc.’s intangible and other assets in connection with Destiny 2.”
