Bungie faces new allegations in the ongoing Destiny 2 Red War lawsuit as writer Martineau now claims the studio’s Grimoire Anthology lore books also copied his copyrighted work.
Bungie’s long-running copyright battle over Destiny 2’s original Red War campaign has taken another turn. Writer Matthew Martineau, who first sued the studio in October 2024, now claims that Bungie’s Grimoire Anthology lore books also copied from his copyrighted works.
Earlier this year, Martineau expanded his original lawsuit to include Destiny 2’s Curse of Osiris expansion, claiming that this expansion also copied protected elements from his work.
And now, according to a new court filing obtained by The Game Post, he’s seeking permission to file a Second Supplemental and Amended Complaint, adding the Grimoire Anthology series as a new target, saying that he recently discovered Bungie’s multi-volume Destiny Grimoire Anthology and that those books “overlap directly with the creative elements” he originally wrote.
The filing was submitted earlier this week, on November 3, 2025, in the Eastern District of Louisiana, where the case is being heard before Judge Susie Morgan.
Destiny 2 Red War lawsuit update
In the new motion, Martineau’s legal team says they only learned about the Destiny Grimoire Anthology’s contents in October 2025, accusing Bungie of failing to disclose the books in discovery even though his earlier document requests should have covered them. His attorneys argue that they moved “diligently” as soon as they found the material and that adding the claim won’t delay the case or unfairly hurt Bungie’s defense.
“Recently, Plaintiff discovered that Bungie also publishes a multi-volume series entitled the ‘Grimoire Anthology’, which incorporates written ‘lore’ and story elements corresponding to the Destiny 2 universe,” the complaint reads. “These works—comprising hardcover and e-book volumes—include extensive narrative content, world building, and backstory that overlap directly with the creative elements forming the basis of Plaintiff’s original copyrighted work.”
According to the filing, “the Grimoire Anthology and Destiny 2 arise from the same creative universe and share overlapping factual and legal issues,” making it practical to handle them together. “Plaintiff now seeks leave to supplement and amend his pleading to assert a new claim for copyright infringement based upon Bungie’s Grimoire Anthology.”
The request hasn’t been approved yet, but its submission shows that Martineau intends to push forward with the new line of accusations.
A closer look at the new claims
The attached Second Supplemental and Amended Complaint, which The Game Post reviewed, goes into new detail about how Martineau believes Bungie copied his work, not just in the game’s narrative, but in its printed lore.
According to the document, the Destiny Grimoire Anthology, which spans seven hardcover and e-book volumes (volumes I through VII), contains “substantially similar” material to Martineau’s writings, including specific story devices, terminology, and symbolic patterns. He cites passages from his 2013 WordPress writings alongside lines from the Grimoire books, suggesting close similarities.
In one section, the complaint compares Martineau’s use of the stylized symbols “<>||<><>|” as in-universe story commands to Bungie’s own text in Destiny Grimoire Anthology, Volume I, which uses strings like:
- “<interdict>|<simulate>|<worship>”
- “<insinuate>|<subvert>|<replicate>”
- “<observe>|<imitate>|<usurp>”
- “<unknown>|<enigma>|<shortfall>”
- “<abort>|<halt>|<abort>”
“These symbols function in Defendant’s work as commands/inputs, which directly parallel Plaintiff’s work ‘Receiving message via Beacon submerged_arctic1259’ and extends beyond the use of mere symbols to a unique expression.”
“The parallels in usage of symbols and issuance of commands combined with aesthetic properties reflect that the similarities extend beyond mere coincidence; Defendant Grimoire Anthology adopts Plaintiff’s unique method of using these symbols to create immersive, terminal-command style narrative devices that simulate and describe in-universe technological interfaces.”
Martineau also compares his “Miogas,” quadruped creatures trained for battle in his stories, to Destiny 2’s “War Beasts” used by the Red Legion. The filing adds that Bungie’s Grimoire texts, like “Trial of Beasts” and “Fed me to their war beasts,” reinforce this overlap.
“In ‘Volume V: Legions Adrift’ of the Grimoire Anthology, war beasts are used for brutal enforcement and punishment (‘fed me to their war beasts’), and are involved in ceremonial duels (‘Trial of Beasts’),” the complaint reads.
The complaint points to matching “Russian”-themed settings as another similarity: the Martineau says one of his pieces (“Receiving signal from stellar dock o9r93i-II”) takes place in “New Moscow,” while in Destiny Grimoire Anthology, an entry called “The Great Houses” describes key events in “Old Russia.”
“Both works utilize Russian geographical and temporal references in science fiction/fantasy works.”
The amended complaint also leans on the books’ wording itself. It says the Grimoire uses “probative and striking similarities,” and then lists what it calls verbatim or near-verbatim terminology, including “species,” “doomed,” “worship,” “inevitable,” “extinction,” and “existence,” arguing the pattern shows “systematic” copying from a set of poems Martineau posted in 2013.
“Defendant’s Grimoire Anthology incorporates numerous verbatim terms directly from Plaintiff’s ‘Xionbur’s 1st – 3rd Testament,’ including the exact terms: ‘Life,’ ‘Death,’ ‘end,’ and ‘annihilate[d]’,” the complaint reads. “Both works employ identical cyclical death concepts, with Plaintiff’s ‘Life And Death’ and ‘your death. Or perhaps your rebirth’ directly paralleling Defendant’s ‘Life and death and life and death and life and death” and cyclical battle themes.'”
“Defendant’s work mirrors Plaintiff’s temporal finality concepts, with Plaintiff’s ‘The end¹ of time’ appearing as Defendant’s ‘In the end, only sorrow remains’ and ‘never ends,’ appropriating Plaintiff’s distinctive end-time terminology.”
“Both works utilize substantially similar existential frameworks involving cosmic destruction, with Plaintiff’s ‘After You were annihilated’ and ‘Annihilation’ paralleling Defendant’s ‘They annihilate¹ those who do not worship the Dark.'”
What happens next
The court still needs to decide if Martineau can file this expanded complaint. Still, the fact that this motion, and the proposed complaint were filed at all shows the plaintiff intends to push the book angle alongside the video game claims.
“Defendants have deliberately and intentionally copied the characters, storyline, and other protectable expression from Martineau’s works in the Grimoire Anthology (all Volumes),” the complaint alleges.
The complaint ends with Martineau asking the court for an injunction to halt Bungie from “manufacturing, producing, distributing, adapting, displaying, advertising, promoting, or selling” any works that are “substantially similar” to his own, including Destiny 2 and the Grimoire Anthology books, along with damages and profits he says the company earned from the alleged infringement.
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