​​Court ruling reveals extent of death threats levelled at Destiny 2 devs

New details regarding Bungie’s latest court ruling have revealed the extent of the harassment and abuse Destiny 2 workers have been facing in the past month.

Details from a suit by Bungie against TextNow, a voice call and texting operator, on June 15 have been made public, giving insight into the multiple incidents of harassment and threats from anonymous individuals that were directed toward the affected Bungie employees.

The harassment started after one Bungie employee posted a tweet from their personal Twitter account announcing the company’s upcoming collaboration with streamer and content creator Uhmaayyze. The tweet was posted on June 2, 2022 with the partnership confirmed to be for Destiny 2.

The Bungie employee who sent the tweet, as well as others who work for Bungie, began receiving doxxing and death threats. This recent ruling has revealed specifics in regards to the type of harassment these employees have been facing.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Fred Myers wrote how, “shortly after [the Bungie tweet], several employees of Bungie began receiving voicemails and text messages on personal, unpublished telephone numbers repeatedly using the racial slur referred to colloquially as the ‘N-word.'” 

Myers added: “That night, a person who called himself ‘Brian’ left a voicemail on the personal telephone line of the employee who posted the ads. Brian referred to the employee by name and requested that Destiny 2 provide a scene or a downloadable piece of the game (DLC) for ‘N-word killing.’

“A few minutes later he called back and identified himself as a member of a far-right-wing social network known to publish material that is censored from mainstream social media. He repeated the request for an ‘N-word killing’ DLC to be added to Destiny 2.”

In addition to these threatening calls, an anonymous Twitter account with the user name Inkcel had also been making threats against these Bungie employees during this time. They stated on Twitter that they had moved house to live closer to the employee they were harassing and tweeted photos of the employee’s staff ID card.

When announcing his decision, Judge Myers highlighted the dangers of anonymous doxxing and racism, and how those who commit this form of harassment should be found and identified.

Myers wrote: “whether they sue in the US or just give the name to the police, I am satisfied that the exceptional equitable remedy ought to be available to identify people who harass others, with base racism, who dox, abuse personal information, and make overt threats of physical harm and death,” 

Following this court ruling, Bungie has revealed that they are focused on holding these perpetrators accountable and will do all they can to support the Destiny 2 devs who have been receiving death threats.