Bungie has fully settled the Destiny 2 Red War copyright lawsuit with writer Matthew Martineau, ending a year-long legal fight.
The copyright lawsuit against Bungie over Destiny 2’s Red War campaign has finally come to an end. The case was first filed in October 2024 by sci-fi writer Matthew Kelsey Martineau, who claimed Bungie copied major parts of his 2013-2014 online stories.
He argued that Destiny 2’s Red Legion faction, the Red War plot, and several story elements were taken from his work. Once the case survived Bungie’s attempt to get it dismissed, it moved into a long discovery process that pulled old campaigns, lore, and even YouTube videos into the discussion.
As the case went on, Martineau kept expanding his claims. He first added the Curse of Osiris expansion, saying it also overlapped with his original writing. Then, earlier this month, his legal team tried to add the Destiny Grimoire Anthology books, saying they recently discovered them and believed they shared even more story beats with his ideas. That addition came on top of the narrative claims already targeting the Red Legion, story themes, and world-building elements inside Destiny 2.
Now it appears the entire fight is over. A new filing shows that the lawsuit has been settled in full. All claims are done, and the case will not go to trial.
Destiny 2 Red War lawsuit update: Bungie and Martineau settle all claims according to new court filing
According to a minute entry obtained by The Game Post, a settlement conference was held on November 12, 2025, in front of Magistrate Judge North. It says the talks were successful and that they resulted in the settlement of all claims.
“A settlement conference was conducted on this date before the undersigned Magistrate Judge,” the filing reads. “Negotiations were successful and resulted in the settlement of all claims. The Court thanks counsel and the parties for their efforts in bringing this matter to an amicable resolution.”
Update, November 14, 3:28 PM PT: A new court filing (obtained by The Game Post) has now made the settlement official. Judge Susie Morgan has issued an order confirming that “all parties have firmly agreed upon a compromise” in this case. The court has dismissed the lawsuit in its entirety without costs. The judge also gave a sixty-day window for either side to reopen the case if the settlement falls apart for any reason.
The order states that the court is keeping jurisdiction during this sixty-day period so it can enforce the settlement if needed.
“The court having been advised that all parties have firmly agreed upon a compromise in this matter; it is ordered that this action be and is hereby dismissed as to all parties, without costs and without prejudice to the right, upon good cause shown, within sixty days, to reopen the action if the settlement is not consummated,” the order reads. “In addition, the court specifically retains jurisdiction to enforce the settlement agreement if settlement is not consummated within sixty days.”
This filing confirms that the case is closed on the court’s docket, with no trial expected unless the settlement fails to be completed within the sixty day window.
Original story: At this time, there is no information on the settlement terms. We do not know the amount, whether any non-monetary conditions were included, or how the final agreement treats the Red War, Curse of Osiris, or the Grimoire Anthology. If more documents appear in the case file, we will update this section accordingly.
This is not the only legal issue Bungie has been facing. A separate lawsuit involving former Destiny 2 game director Christopher Barrett is still active. Barrett sued Bungie and Sony, seeking $200 million and accusing Bungie of wrongful termination to avoid paying around $50 million.
Barrett was reportedly fired from Bungie after at least eight female employees came forward and reported that Barrett had made them feel “uncomfortable” and “behaved inappropriately toward them.”
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