Bungie’s top lawyer has said that taking legal action against cheaters is “good business” following a string of high-profile court battles.
Over the past year, Bungie has taken legal action against various players who cheat, threaten members of their staff, and impersonate the company. In June the company issued a £6.2million lawsuit against a copyright fraudster and settled for £10.7million out of court with a Destiny 2 cheat site.
Speaking to Axios, Bungie general counsel Don McGowan explained that “we have seen historically that bad actors will often be tolerated because the people with the skills and power to remove them do not focus their efforts there.”
“To put it simply, we disagree,” he continued. “In our view, removing harassment and abuse from our community is not only the right thing to do, it is also good business.”
“We believe very strongly that most people do not want to be in communities where cheating or harassment is allowed to thrive. Tolerating bad actors chases away a lot of people who would like to enjoy our products,” he added.
It’s not just an issue affecting Destiny 2 either. “This is an issue that impacts many studios across the industry, and it is critical to deal with it to maintain a healthy and happy community that wants to play your game,” McGowan explained.
McGowan went on to say Bungie workers “do not deserve any of the mistreatment that is sometimes directed their way. They are doing a job and as their lawyer, my team and I have a set of skills that make it possible for us to defend them as well as the integrity of our players’ experience.”
It comes after Bungie said it was dialling back communications with fans following widespread abuse.
In other news, Bungie senior visual designer Signy Davis has called for industry-wide action “to secure equal treatment and health care access for transgender and gender-expansive people.”
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