Bungie Settles Future 2 Crimson Warfare Lawsuit

Bungie has formally settled the lawsuit over the Future 2 Crimson Warfare storyline. The transfer closes a authorized battle that tangled with Destiny 2‘s vaulted content material and supplied a uncommon take a look at how stateside courts assess sport narratives.

In October 2024, Louisiana-based science fiction writer Matthew Kelsey Martineau sued Bungie, alleging the developer infringed on his copyright with the Red War campaign for Destiny 2. The plaintiff claimed the sport’s Season 1 narrative drew closely from his 2013–2014 sci-fi brief tales collectively known as The Crimson Legion, which revolve round a militaristic alien faction of the identical title. He argued that Future 2‘s portrayal of its personal Crimson Legion and its chief, Dominus Ghaul, shared vital similarities with the characters and narrative arcs in his personal work.

Future 2 Crimson Warfare Copyright Lawsuit Settled on All Counts

A yr later, the copyright infringement lawsuit has been settled, in accordance with court docket paperwork obtained by The Game Post. The settlement convention befell on November 12, with its decision confirmed two days later in a court docket order issued by U.S. District Decide Susie Morgan of the Japanese District of Louisiana. The order states that the Destiny 2 lawsuit has been settled on all counts, thanking each events for his or her efforts to resolve it amicably.

Bungie and Matthew Ok. Martineau Have 60 Days to Reopen Future 2 Crimson Warfare Lawsuit for Any Motive

Because of this, Decide Morgan has administratively closed the case, whereas giving each events a 60-day window to reopen it in case the settlement falls by. Each the process and the size of the reopening interval are normal for U.S. federal courts. Reopen home windows sometimes vary from 30 to 90 days, relying on how lengthy the court docket expects the events to want to finalize their settlement paperwork. A 60-day interval is widespread in instances the place the settlement might contain a number of paperwork or logistical steps, however it doesn’t replicate any evaluation of the underlying authorized deserves or complexity of the grievance. The phrases of the settlement are sealed.

Why Future 2 Crimson Warfare Lawsuit Was a Larger Headache Than a Typical Copyright Infringement Case

The settlement closes a authorized battle difficult by Bungie’s longstanding policy of vaulting Destiny 2 content, i.e., eradicating it from the sport after a while. Because of this, the corporate’s attorneys needed to depend on fan-made YouTube movies and community-maintained wiki pages to indicate what the disputed supplies seemed like throughout Season 1, which ran from September to December 2017.

In early Could 2025, a federal judge refused to accept those third-party Destiny 2 recordings at the motion-to-dismiss stage of the lawsuit, stating that their authenticity had not been established. The court docket dominated it couldn’t conduct a side-by-side comparability of Martineau’s work and the Crimson Warfare marketing campaign with out verified footage or direct entry to the sport. Bungie’s vaulting coverage thus successfully hindered its potential to have the case dismissed early, pushing the dispute towards settlement.