Why is Destiny 2 developer Bungie being sued? Drama explained

In October 2024, sci-fi writer Matthew Kelsey Martineau (Caspar Cole) sued Bungie, alleging that Destiny 2’s original Red War campaign copied his work. He points out the Red Legion faction with flamethrowers and war beasts, plus ideas like consciousness transfer and emergency failsafe.

Since the old campaigns are locked in Destiny 2’s Content Vault, Bungie relied on fan-made videos and wiki pages to represent the game content. On May 2, 2025, Judge Susie Morgan refused to dismiss the case, saying those unauthenticated sources cannot replace the actual game files.

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The lawsuit alleges that details about the 'Red Legion' were copied

Martineau points out that both his stories and Destiny 2 feature a group called the Red Legion, a powerful alien army that uses flamethrowers and war beasts. He also highlights sci-fi ideas like moving consciousness between bodies and emergency shutdown systems, which he claims appear in both works.

“The notorious Red Legion, a powerful military force, that is embroiled in an unending cycle of warfare throughout these locations including the Land of the Crimson Sky”

Martineau claims these similarities are too specific to be coincidental. He seeks monetary damages and a court order preventing Bungie from using those story elements.

Missing game content makes evidence hard to find

Since 2021, Bungie has moved the Red War campaign and its early expansions into a “Content Vault” to save space in the live game. As the original code no longer runs, Bungie’s lawyers told the court they could not hand over playable copies of those missions.

“Bungie cannot feasibly provide the Court with the original Destiny 2 game as it existed in 2017, including the accused ‘Red War’ and ‘Curse of Osiris’ campaigns, in any operable or reviewable form.”

Instead, Bungie submitted fan-made YouTube videos and wiki pages as representations of the old campaign.

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The judge rejected Bungie’s evidence at this stage

On May 2, 2025, federal Judge Susie Morgan refused to toss out the case. She said unauthenticated third-party videos and wiki entries cannot replace the actual game files.

“There has not been sufficient time for discovery, and the attachments are admittedly of third-party origination. Their authenticity has not been established.”

As Martineau’s complaint met the basic legal requirements for copyright claims, the judge sent the dispute to the discovery phase.

What happens next and why it matters

In discovery, both sides will swap documents, interview witnesses, and look at design notes and emails. Bungie will try to prove they created their story independently, while Martineau will look for proof that Bungie saw his blog before making Destiny 2.

This case highlights a broader issue in live-service games: removing older content to optimize performance can also eliminate critical evidence for future legal disputes. As live-service games become more common, preserving original content could become crucial for both players and legal fairness.

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