Bungie has fully settled the copyright lawsuit over Destiny 2's Red War campaign, closing a dispute that lasted more than a year. According to an entry cited by The Game Post, a settlement conference held on November 12 was successful. As the filing states, "Negotiations were successful and resulted in the settlement of all claims," and the court thanked both sides for reaching "an amicable resolution."
The case began in October 2024, when sci-fi writer Matthew Kelsey Martineau claimed the studio copied "major parts" of his 2013–2014 stories posted on his Wordpress site. He argued that elements such as the Red Legion faction, the Red War storyline, and several plot details were "taken directly" from his original work.
After Bungie failed to get the case dismissed, both sides entered a long discovery process. Bungie repeatedly called the accusations "baseless," but because the original campaign is no longer in the game, the company had to rely on community videos and wiki entries instead of submitting the game itself as evidence. However, since those are third-party sources, the judge dismissed them.
As the case progressed, Martineau expanded his claims. He added the Curse of Osiris expansion, saying its story also overlapped with his writing. Later, his legal team attempted to include the Destiny Grimoire Anthology books, arguing that they had only recently discovered them and believed they contained "even more story beats" similar to his own work.
As the case will not go to trial, the judge also included a 60-day window to reopen the case if the agreement falls apart.
Last week, Bungie revealed the new roadmap for the upcoming Renegades expansion, which featured many changes based on player feedback from Edge of Fate, and admitted its original plan had been the wrong path for Destiny.
"We wanted to provide a preview of the changes coming to Destiny 2 with Renegades and update 9.5.0.1 that goes live the week after launch," the statement read in a blog post. "The team has been focused on continuing to make improvements to power and progression, quality-of-life updates, and the start of a new weekly ritual alongside brand-new activities and systems with Renegades."
Source
The case began in October 2024, when sci-fi writer Matthew Kelsey Martineau claimed the studio copied "major parts" of his 2013–2014 stories posted on his Wordpress site. He argued that elements such as the Red Legion faction, the Red War storyline, and several plot details were "taken directly" from his original work.
After Bungie failed to get the case dismissed, both sides entered a long discovery process. Bungie repeatedly called the accusations "baseless," but because the original campaign is no longer in the game, the company had to rely on community videos and wiki entries instead of submitting the game itself as evidence. However, since those are third-party sources, the judge dismissed them.
As the case progressed, Martineau expanded his claims. He added the Curse of Osiris expansion, saying its story also overlapped with his writing. Later, his legal team attempted to include the Destiny Grimoire Anthology books, arguing that they had only recently discovered them and believed they contained "even more story beats" similar to his own work.
As the case will not go to trial, the judge also included a 60-day window to reopen the case if the agreement falls apart.
Last week, Bungie revealed the new roadmap for the upcoming Renegades expansion, which featured many changes based on player feedback from Edge of Fate, and admitted its original plan had been the wrong path for Destiny.
"We wanted to provide a preview of the changes coming to Destiny 2 with Renegades and update 9.5.0.1 that goes live the week after launch," the statement read in a blog post. "The team has been focused on continuing to make improvements to power and progression, quality-of-life updates, and the start of a new weekly ritual alongside brand-new activities and systems with Renegades."
Source