Bungie is being sued for copyright infringement by a writer who claims the studio copied his “original work about a unique and captivating fantasy world” for Destiny 2’s Red War campaign.
The lawsuit (as spotted by TheGamePost) was filed with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana by author Kelsey Martineau. He accuses Bungie of “deliberately copying and appropriating [his] copyrighted content”, arguing aspects of Destiny 2’s Red War storyline – its antagonistic Red Legion army, in particular – were taken “directly” from an original work published via WordPress years before the (now vaulted) Destiny 2 campaign’s 2017 release.
According to the lawsuit, Martineau, using the pen name Caspar Cole, authored his “original work about a unique and captivating fantasy world” in 2013 and 2014, telling the story of a “powerful military force… embroiled in an unending cycle of warfare” known as the Red Legion.
Alongside the fact Destiny 2’s Red Legion Cabal shares the same name, Martineau argues both armies’ leaders feature near-identical motivations. His creation, Yinnerah, and Destiny 2 villain Dominus Ghaul are both “urged, guided, and assisted by outcast mentors (scholars) to overthrow their leaders to rise to power with the intentions of invading Earth”, something they plan to do by seizing control of an orbital installation hovering above the planet – the Traveler in Destiny 2’s case, and Martineau’s Tononob Station.