Court Rejects Bungie's Request to Dismiss Destiny 2 Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

The Eastern District of Louisiana court has denied Bungie's motion to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit related to Destiny 2, stating that the plaintiff has provided sufficient evidence to proceed with the case. The lawsuit, filed by Matthew Kelsey Martineau, alleges that Destiny 2's campaign storylines, The Red War and Curse of Osiris, copied protected elements from his published work. Bungie had attempted to provide evidence through gameplay videos, wiki pages, and an affidavit from game director Tyson Green, but the court ruled that these materials were insufficient for a side-by-side comparison of the works. The challenge for Bungie is that the relevant content has been 'vaulted' and is no longer accessible, making it impossible to provide the court with a reviewable form of the campaigns. The court noted that Bungie failed to explain how a side-by-side analysis could be conducted without access to the original content. As a result, the motion to dismiss was denied, and the case will proceed. Bungie has been archiving content from Destiny 2 since 2020, prioritizing new content added with subsequent expansions.