Cheating in video games is honestly a bit more complicated than you may have realized…or wanted to admit. Because we all know of the famous “cheat codes” that we have used over the years to go and get “boosts” or have free access to certain levels, or something along those lines. Some cheats for older games are only now being found decades after their release! But then, there are things you can do in games that are straight-up cheating. Such as using special programs to help you aim, or to cause another player to lag when you’re in an online mode with them, and so on. These cheats are frowned upon, and Bungie has taken issue with one company for doing that in Destiny 2.
You might recall that they filed a lawsuit against company AimJunkies last year by saying that they weren’t just producing cheats, but violating copyright laws. An interesting claim to be sure, but the twist was that a US judge didn’t agree and dismissed the case outright. However, Bungie wasn’t going to give up, and so they were able to rewrite the accusation to be more specific and then file another complaint against AimJunkies.
Naturally the cheats company wasn’t too happy about this, and in fact, they basically pointed the finger at the developer for not being able to control their consumers enough to where cheats like theirs were being used.
“We believe Bungie and their counsel apparently believe the more s**t you throw at the wall, the greater the possibility of something sticking with the court, no matter how ridiculous or absurd it is in the real world.”
Indeed, they’re saying that you shouldn’t believe 90% of what the developer has been saying (which makes you wonder what the 10% you should believe is) in their complaints against them. They also highlight how “cheating isn’t illegal” and it’s more about the community than it is about anything else. Even being so bold as to say that Bungie is trying to go for the “death by a thousand cuts” route rather than to admit that this isn’t the right way to go about this situation.
That is a very unique argument, and AimJunkies also said that they were willing to work with the dev to handle things in a way that benefits both sides, but “their pride” refused to even consider it.
So what happens now? Well, the court battle will go on for a few months, and we’ll see what the judge has to say more than likely.
It is true that from an overall standpoint cheats aren’t illegal per se, they can be illegal to use per the community in things like eSports, but in the overall of game development? It’s a gray area. So we’ll have to see where this all goes.
Source: TorrentFreak