The court has refused to grant a new trial, despite Bungie's $4.4-million win against Destiny 2 cheater.

Two US courts have effectively sealed the victory of Bungie, the studio behind Destiny 2, after it won a $4.4-million award against cheat maker AimJunkies. One court affirmed the award amount, which AimJunkies appealed. The other court denied the company's demand for a retrial.

Bungie's lawsuit against AimJunkies, one of many it brought against cheat makers, including PerfectAim and GatorCheats as well as Ring-1, was a bit of a flop right out of the gate. AimJunkies won a small but unexpected victory in May 2022 when a judge dismissed a part of Bungie’s claim relating to copyright infringement. The final result was not much: the majority of the remaining claim went to arbitration. This resulted in a Bungie ruling of just under $4.4 million.

As reported by TorrentFreak, AimJunkies had filed a motion asking that the jury's decision be overturned as a matter of law because Bungie had not actually proven copyright violation--essentially saying the jury had clearly come to the wrong decision--and requesting either a different verdict or a new trial. In a ruling released on August 30, the court rejected this claim, stating that "substantial evidence" both direct and circumstantial supports the jury's findings.

A comparison between the Game Genie cheats and the appeal and decision was an interesting point. AimJunkies cited the 1992 legal battle between Galoob Toys vs. Nintendo to support its claim that their software does not create derivatives and therefore is not violating copyright. The Game Genie, however, was a "dumb device" because it only blocked one byte of data which users could replace with any data. The AimJunkies software on the other hand, the court ruled "was not dumb, and functioned more than just a window into Destiny 2’s programming."

"The Cheat Software's code is injected into the Destiny 2 source code, essentially creating a new and altered version of the game. The Cheat Software also added red boxes to certain characters, resulting in a modified audiovisual presentation of Destiny 2. a derivative work."

The verdict is final. There will be no new trial.

The $4.4million award is also valid. AimJunkies argued in its appeal that arbitrator had erred in refusing to accept previously entered "material proof" in support of their claim. The court rejected this allegation and essentially said AimJunkies' lawyer dropped the ball.

The ruling states that "The Arbitrator didn't dismiss AimJunkies completely from their ability or attempt to impeach (Bungie principal witnesses Dr. Edward Kaiser]". "For example AimJunkies counsel could have attempted to rephrase their question, ask Dr. Kaiser questions about his transcripts or read Dr. Kaiser transcripts into record to impeach him," the ruling states.

"AimJunkies" counsel did not try to do this. Counsel abandoned the line entirely. This is not an error. Especially not one that was "in bad faith" or "so gross as to amount a affirmative misconduct".

AimJunkies may have to give up on its case if they don't appeal further, but it's still possible. AimJunkies continues to function, but without any Destiny 2 hacks. I've contacted AimJunkies to ask for a comment. I will update this post if I get a response.