Bungie Lawyer Argues That Suing Cheaters Is "Good Business"

As of late, Bungie has been taking a stand against a toxic portion of its player base. The studio recently filed a lawsuit against one Destiny 2 player for repeated cheating and evading bans. The user also reportedly made threats against Bungie and specific members of its staff.

As a result, Bungie employees have been taking a back seat when it comes to communicating with the fanbase. One of the company’s community managers said staff will refrain from connecting with fans until “future protections [and] strategies” are put in place. Well now, Bungie have announced that they’ll continue to crack down on harassers as it’s “good business.”

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Bungie general counsel Don McGowan spoke to Axios following threats from one fan who claimed that they’d “burn down” the studio. McGowan said removing such people from the fanbase is “not only the right thing to do, it is also good business.”

He went on to explain, “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. In our view, removing harassment and abuse from our community is not only the right thing to do, it is also good business. Tolerating bad actors chases away a lot of people who would like to enjoy our product.”

It makes sense. By cracking down on removing toxic individuals, Bungie in turn nurtures a much better environment for its loyal players. As one community manager previously expressed, “None of [this] is meant to be a punishment to the people who can leave clear and respectful feedback for our developers,” but until Bungie can remove harassers and cheats, that’s exactly the case.