Bungie's attempt to have the Destiny 2 copyright lawsuit dismissed has been rejected in relation to the 'vaulted' campaign storyline

The Eastern District of Louisiana court has refused Bungie's request to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit related to Destiny 2. The dispute revolves around content that has been 'vaulted' or removed from the game, complicating evidence presentation.

Matthew Kelsey Martineau, the plaintiff, claims that the campaign narratives The Red War and Curse of Osiris in Destiny 2 illegally borrowed elements from his works published on WordPress in 2013 and 2014, including specific character and faction details.

In an attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed, Bungie submitted evidence such as gameplay videos, details from the Destinypedia wiki, and a statement from Tyson Green, a game director.

Bungie argued that these submissions served as an "accurate" portrayal of the contested campaigns, enabling the court to view the materials effectively.

Tyson Green's statement (reported by The Game Post) explained that the outdated code for the 'Red War' and 'Curse of Osiris' is now incompatible with the current Destiny 2 framework, preventing its operation.

The plaintiff, however, insisted on a direct comparison of the actual works, rather than relying on third-party resources like videos and Wikis.

This poses a significant hurdle for Bungie, as the 'Red War' and 'Curse of Osiris' content was removed in 2020 and thus cannot be used directly as evidence in the proceedings.

According to the court document, Bungie acknowledged in its reply that it is now impractical to provide the court with a viewable or discoverable form of these campaigns.

The court stated that the plaintiff had adequately demonstrated the basis for a copyright infringement claim, leading to the denial of Bungie's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Since 2020, Bungie has been storing archived content from Destiny 2 in favor of the newer content included in the game's subsequent expansions.