Destiny 2 ‘Assault’ By Cheaters Is Ending, Bungie Lawsuit Says

Guardians parade in the streets of the Last City.

Image: Bungie

A new Destiny 2 cheat maker is ruining its competitive multiplayer, and Bungie is banking on its string of recent legal victories to crush it. The Sony-owned studio filed a lawsuit against the group behind the Ring-1 software as it claims the days of players “feeling free to engage in a wholesale assault” on the sci-fi shooter MMO are over.

Bungie has targeted up to 50 defendants in Washington District Court who it alleges are involved in copyright infringement, DMCA violations, and civil conspiracy, according to the lawsuit first reported on by TorrenFreak. The studio claims that Ring-1 uses an exploit in the Windows and Intel processor framework to turn off hardware protections and remain undetected as it feeds false data back to Destiny 2‘s servers.

As a result, players who pay $59 to $119 a month for the services get access to a bunch of different tools that given them unfair advantages like an “Aimbot” that boosts targetting and “Character ESP” which reveals every hidden part of a map. There’s also the dreaded “Misc” cheat which, as Bungie describes it, “includes a ‘ONE POSITION KILL’ hack that allows a player to kill everyone, player and NPC, from a single position.”

It’s the latest in a string of cases Bungie has brought against cheat sellers as it tries to crackdown on a growing industry-wide scourge. While many game companies from Activision to Riot Games have pursued technical solutions to detect, block, and ban cheaters, the Destiny 2 maker has added aggressive court battles to its arsenal. And so far the results speak for themselves. Bungie won $4 million against AimJunkies in February, and $12 million against a seller at VeteranCheats in April.

“The days of Destiny 2 cheaters being free to engage in a wholesale assault on the Destiny 2 game and its community without fear of consequences are over,” Bungie wrote in its latest lawsuit, which it hopes will benefit from those previous victories. In the meantime, however, Destiny 2‘s PVP content still face an uphill battle. In addition to not infrequent cheating on PC, modes like Crucible and Gambit have been short on new content and major overhauls. The legal precedents Bungie establishes could still help it in its broader fight, especially with new online multiplayers coming like the exraction shooter Marathon.

       

MrBeast Facing $100 Million Lawsuit After Dissing Own Burgers

James “MrBeast” Donaldson, one of the biggest YouTube stars in the world, is now being sued by Virtual Dining Concepts for $100 million. The food company behind his MrBeast Burgers alleges in the newly filed lawsuit that MrBeast is a “social media celebrity who believes his fame” means he can break contracts and say anything. In the view of VDC’s lawyers, “He is mistaken.”

In 2020, MrBeast partnered with Virtual Dining Concepts, a company that specializes in “ghost kitchen” restaurants that use other, established eateries to produce branded meals that are then sold via delivery apps like Uber Eats. In December of 2020, MrBeast Burgers launched around the country. I was tricked into ordering one. (And then the same thing happened to the wonderful and forever great Mike Fahey.) MrBeast has publicly addressed fan complaints that the burgers they ordered were “inedible” or disgusting, with some looking like raw beef slapped on a bun. So MrBeast filed a lawsuit on August 1 against VDC, claiming the company didn’t care about these quality issues and wanting to terminate the deal. Now VDC is firing back with its own lawsuit that claims he has failed to honor his contractual obligations and has negatively interfered with the business.

As first reported by Bloomberg on August 7, VDC filed a lawsuit against MrBeast in New York City that alleges the star behind many viral videos has “schemed to exploit [his] leverage and renege on [his] agreements.” VDC says this is all being done to get a “better, more lucrative deal.”

The MrBeast Burgers lawsuit features a lot of tweets

In the lawsuit, VDC says that when it didn’t agree to new terms with MrBeast he began to disparage both the food company and MrBeast Burgers—a joint brand owned by the YouTuber and VDC-via a series of tweets, some of which he has since deleted.

“If I had the ability to close it, I would have done so a long time ago sadly. Sometimes when ur young you sign shit deal [sic],” reads one of MrBeast’s tweets, as seen in the lawsuit.

VDC calls the negative tweets and MrBeast’s complaints about quality control “baseless” and “unlawful,” citing a non-disparagement clause that was included in the contract between the YouTuber and the food company. The company also claims in the lawsuit that the deal was set to expire in 2024, but MrBeast extended it “indefinitely” in 2022.

VDC argues in the suit that as a result of these negative tweets—and MrBeast’s team taking over MrBeast Burgers’ social media accounts to block promotions—the company’s reputation has been damaged and that it also lost vendors, suppliers, and customers. VDC alleges the total amount of monetary damage it has faced is “in the nine-figure range.”

A screenshot of the lawsuit shows a negative candy review.

Screenshot: Kotaku

As for the complaints about burger quality, in a comical section of the lawsuit, VDC suggests that complaints were within the normal expected amount for a venture this large. It then includes a screenshot of a negative review of MrBeast’s “Feastables” candy brand.

Kotaku contacted MrBeast’s representatives but received no comment. VDC sent this statement to Kotaku:

VDC looks forward to holding Mr. Donaldson and BI accountable for their actions. In the meantime, it is business as usual for MrBeast Burger and VDC to the greatest extent possible, and VDC looks forward to serving many more satisfied customers and continuing to help the restaurant industry.

Roblox Hit With Lawsuit Claiming It Profits Off Child Gambling

An image shows a robber running away in Jailbreak.

Image: Roblox

Roblox has long been accused of not doing enough to make sure its massively popular gaming platform is free of toxicity and exploitation. Now parents are joining together in a class-action lawsuit to take the $17 billion company to court over allegations that it gets children into online gambling and profits off of it.

As first reported by Bloomberg Law (via Axios), the lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Northern District of California on August 15 on behalf of parents Rachel Colvin and Danielle Sass. They accuse the enormously successful game creation tool (that doubles as an online social hangout with over 65 million active users)of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and claim it acts in concert with third-party websites “to profit from gambling games meant to attract kids.”

A handful of online gambling sites are also included as defendants in the lawsuit. The parents’ argument rests on the fact that Roblox users, including kids, can use their in-game Robux paid for with real world cash to gamble on virtual items. While Roblox officially bars gambling and other illicit activities, the lawsuit claims the company is complicit since it allows the funds to be transferred to the gambling websites directly through the Robux wallet, on which it earns a healthy commission.

“Each of the Illegal Gambling Websites operates on or in concert with Roblox and the Gambling Website Defendants, facilitating an exchange of Robux for gambling credits that occurs on the Roblox platform,” the lawsuit alleges. “Indeed, Robux never leave the Roblox platform until they are exchanged for cash. Once a minor user’s credits are exhausted, the Gambling Website Defendants cash out their newly-acquired Robux and provide Roblox with its 30% transaction fee.”

Read More: Roblox Trying To Describe Adult Poop Is Very Funny

Roblox didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but told Bloomberg Law in a statement that, “These are third-party sites and have no legal affiliation to Roblox whatsoever. Bad actors make illegal use of Roblox’s intellectual property and branding to operate such sites in violation of our standards.” It added that it continues to be “vigilant” in going after companies that violate its policies or “endanger the safety” of its community.

Roblox has recently tried to leverage the success of its kid-centric platform by trying to appeal to more mature audiences with games rated for users 17 and older, and tools to do job interviews inside the platform. The ‘metaverse’ of our dreams is apparently just another awkward conversation where someone asks you where you see yourself in five years. Roblox has lost 40 percent of its market value since this time last year, despite continuing to attract new players.

       

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