Bungie wins lawsuit against Destiny 2 player, following racist harassment and threats to employee

Destiny maker Bungie has won a lawsuit against a player who repeatedly harassed, threatened, and doxxed one of its employees.

Last year, one of Bungie’s community managers shared artwork by UhMaayyze, who is described as a “talented Black fan and creator of Destiny 2 fan works”, as a part of Bungie’s ‘My Destiny 2 Story’ series.

Following this artwork’s appearance, a Destiny 2 player took it upon themselves to begin a campaign of racist, “stochastic terrorism” against the community manager who highlighted UhMaayyze’s work.

According to court documents, the player, surname Comer, left anonymous “hideous, bigoted” voicemails on the community manager’s phone, including asking that “the [employee] convince Bungie to create options in its game in which only persons of colour would be killed.”

Comer then proceeded to threaten the community manager’s wife, leaving “further racist voicemails and texts for her”.

Following these messages, Comer used an anonymous number to order a pizza to the Bungie employee’s home, to prove they knew where the employee lived. This delivery came with the instruction to knock loudly on the door “at least five times”, with Comer requesting cash-on-delivery to increase the chance of a conflict arising between the community manager and the delivery driver.

Comer proceeded to brag about his harassment of Bungie’s community manager on an online group, which also had access to a set of sound files and noises labeled as “ear rape”. Members of this group could use these files as part of their “terror campaigns”, something Comer proceeded to do, leaving another voicemail on the community manager’s phone.

As a result of their continued harassment by Comer, the employee took time off from their job as a community manager. Bungie took measures to protect its employee, including engaging investigators and outside counsel.

When Bungie discovered Comer was the person behind the threatening behaviour, it sued. Comer has been fined $489,435 for their actions.

Bungie has recently taken several other Destiny players to court and won – albeit for the sale of cheat devices and software.