Bungie
Founded in 1990 by Alex Seropian, Bungie is a game development studio that has been known to develop games for their popular franchises, such as Marathon, Destiny, and initially Halo. Originally, the company exclusively developed for the Mac platform, but after being acquired by Microsoft, Bungie was seen developing instead for the Xbox platform (and 3rd parties such as Gearbox Software handling ports to Windows), until its departure shortly after Halo Reach's release. In January of 2022, the company was yet again bought out, this time by Sony Interactive Entertainment.[1]
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1990 |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Entertainment Software |
| Official website | https://Bungie.com |
Consumer-impact summary
Controversial Practices
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Bungie category.
Concerning legal agreements
Inside the Bungie "Limited Software License Agreement" (LSLA)[3] since at least August 17, 2021, there is binding arbitration, which takes effect the moment any user has run any Bungie software since the introduction of this term.
Additionally, Bungie can, and has taken advantage of a stipulation[4] within their forums which states:
"By using the form, you are submitting content to Bungie. When you submit content to Bungie, you agree to the Bungie Services Terms of Use, which also means you're promising us that you have the right to upload that content, that we can freely use it without condition, and that you agree that your submission follows our Code of Conduct."
A highlight from this agreement
"...which also means you're promising us that you have the right to upload that content..."
has been cited by consumers[4] as a reason why a piece of user-generated content[5] was used commercially within Destiny 2.[6] This can be especially concerning if left to be legally valid, as consumer copyright could be effectively bypassed by companies to freely use stolen content without repercussions.
Theft of user-generated content
- Main article: Bungie's copyright violations
In May of 2025, The user Antireal posted that Bungie lifted assets from them[7][8] for the purposes of creating assets for the studio's latest game, Marathon, after noticing these after the game's closed alpha test. Should this information have come to light months later, consumers who had paid for the game, either as a pre-order or on launch, would have been at risk of having the software they paid for being taken away due to the negligence of Bungie.
Bungie's responses to the situation has merely been to pin the fault on an artist who formerly worked for the company.[9][10] This statement is problematic, as Bungie's recent history has shown on repeated occasion that they would lift assets created by other artists without credit nor compensation[9] until after significant consumer outrage.[11][12] Additionally, the lead creative director, among other Bungie staff, have reportedly been following the artist whose content they stole as well.[9]
Bungie's history behind its theft of content has gone so far as to lead to a legal case regarding Destiny 2's Red War and Curse of Osiris expansions.[13][14]
Vaulting of content users paid for
Bungie has historically revoked content that users paid for inside Destiny 2,[2][15] effectively being defined as "vaulting" the content by both the company and consumers. Not all of the revoked content was taking a strain on Bungie's servers either, as some content is accessible for users offline.[16] There were promises in 2022 that no more content would be revoked,[17] however not all of it has returned to users,[18] especially as was found by a court case on the matter of content theft, Bungie had either deleted the content, or due to code incompatibility, be unable to display the content pertaining to the legal case.[13][14]
Products
Software
References
- ↑ Dring, Christopher (January 31, 2022). "PlayStation: Bungie deal is about multiplatform, live-service games". Gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Savage, Phil (Aug 23, 2020). "Here's everything being removed from Destiny 2 at the end of this season—it's a lot". PC Gamer. Retrieved Mar 31, 2025.
- ↑ "Bungie LSLA". Bungie. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 xXLjordSireXx (Jun 21, 2023). "Comment from xXLjordSireXx". Reddit. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
- ↑ Ikari, Shinji. "The Veil of Darkness". Bungie Forums. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
- ↑ Kinduhgood (Jun 20, 2023). "Bungie stole someone's art for the new cutscene. His art was made over 2 years ago". Reddit - r/Destiny2. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
- ↑ Tassi, Paul (May 16, 2025). "Bungie Stealing 'Marathon' Art Is Probably The Last Straw". Forbes. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ↑ Antireal (May 15, 2025). "Tweet from Antireal". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Carpenter, Lincoln. "Bungie confirms it stole art once again, will undertake a 'thorough review' of Marathon assets". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ↑ Marathon Developers (May 15, 2025). "Tweet from Marathon Dev Team". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ↑ Chalk, Andy (Sep 13, 2024). "Whoops, they did it again: Bungie admits fan art was used in an official Destiny 2 collectible, says the artist will be 'compensated and credited for their incredible artwork'". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
- ↑ Mint Blitz (May 16, 2025). "Well It's Over - Bungie STEALS Content, Marathon Dead". YouTube. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Ali, Zuhaad (Mar 24, 2025). "Bungie Facing New Claims in Destiny 2 Red War Lawsuit, Writer Alleges Curse of Osiris Expansion Also Stole His Work". The Game Post. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Tassi, Paul (May 3, 2025). "'Destiny 2' Content Vaulting Causes More Legal Problems For Bungie". Forbes. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ↑ Glagowski, Peter (Jun 9, 2020). "Bungie To Remove Four Planets And All But Three Raids From Destiny 2". The Gamer. Retrieved Mar 31, 2025.
- ↑ The_Observer (Jun 18, 2021). "How could Bungie get away so easily with removing paid content from Destiny 2?". NeoGAF. Retrieved Mar 31, 2025.
- ↑ Gach, Ethan (Aug 23, 2022). "Destiny 2 Promises No More Axing Old Parts Of Game, Something That Players Hated". Kotaku. Retrieved Mar 31, 2025.
- ↑ GB Times Gaming Team (Mar 21, 2025). "Why is Bungie Removing Content from Destiny 2? The Content Vault Controversy Explained". GB Times. Retrieved Mar 31, 2025.