A new filing in the ongoing Destiny 2 lawsuit claims Bungie didn’t just copy ideas for the Red War campaign but also lifted content for the Curse of Osiris expansion.
Back in October 2024, Destiny 2 developer Bungie was hit with a copyright lawsuit from Louisiana-based writer Kelsey Martineau. The claim? That Bungie’s original Red War campaign for Destiny 2 took direct inspiration—without permission—from Martineau’s unpublished science-fiction stories under the pen name “Caspar Cole.” In December, Bungie denied everything and pushed back, saying there were no real similarities and asking the court to throw the case out.
Now there have been some new developments. Martineau has just filed his first amended complaint, expanding his case. This new filing, submitted today (March 24, 2025) and obtained by The Game Post, doesn’t just reassert the original claims about the Red War storyline, it now also accuses Bungie of copying his work for Destiny 2’s Curse of Osiris expansion, saying that Bungie lifted his ideas, characters, dialogue, and worldbuilding as well.
New Court Filing Adds Curse of Osiris to the Case
In the newly filed 56-page complaint, Martineau points out what he says are “striking similarities” between his stories and Bungie’s Destiny 2 content, not just in tone or general ideas, but in characters, plotlines, names, dialogue, and even themes like time travel and consciousness transfer.
He originally claimed Bungie copied his idea of a militaristic alien group called the Red Legion, led by a power-hungry outcast-turned-warlord named Yinnerah, who wanted to take over a floating space station above Earth. In Destiny 2’s Red War campaign, players face a faction also called the Red Legion, led by Dominus Ghaul, who shares a very similar origin and goal.
Both leaders are seen as “gods” by their followers, both are mentored by disgraced scholars, and both want to control a massive celestial object hovering over Earth: Tononob Station in Martineau’s work, and the Traveler in Destiny.
Martineau claims these aren’t just coincidences. He says the overlap is too much to ignore.
“The similarities between Martineau’s primary antagonist, Yinnerah, and Destiny 2’s primary antagonist, Dominus Ghaul, are striking and clearly establish more than a mere coincidence,” the complaint reads.
What’s new in this amended complaint is that Martineau is now accusing Bungie of copying his work again for the Curse of Osiris expansion.
According to Martineau, Bungie didn’t stop at the Red War. He now alleges that Curse of Osiris–the first Destiny 2 expansion released in December 2017–also used ideas and themes from his stories. He points to several direct comparisons between his character Exemplar Forinis, a prophetic figure who manipulates timelines to avoid disaster, and Destiny 2’s Osiris, a legendary Warlock “known for his ability to see the future through his study of the Vex, an alien race capable of manipulating time.”
Martineau says both characters are mythic figures, guiding others through time-based threats. He even references his own story titled “Infinite Programming”, which he claims inspired the titles for Curse of Osiris’ “Infinite Forest” destination, and the “Beyond Infinity” mission.
“In Martineau’s work (in ‘The Journals of Young Frini’) he writes: ‘The Red Legion just marched through our commune and killed almost everyone.’. Destiny 2 Curse of Osiris provides as follows: ‘When the Red Legion attacked, it almost cost us everything.'”
“In Martineau’s work (in ‘Here’) he writes: ‘Through the red dunes, to the valley of serpents. There the end comes, and goes, and begins again as one.’ Destiny 2 Curse of Osiris provides as follows: ‘It took a miracle to save us… This is our new beginning.'”
“In Martineau’s work (in ‘Here’) he writes: ‘That is, the nature of things. The universe, the galaxy, the planetary alignment that it sits in the eye of a mioga.’ Destiny 2 Curse of Osiris provides as follows: ‘This small corner of the cosmos is the only place that is forever ours. And the universe watches us with envious eyes.‘”
He also points to name similarities, his character Torka compared to Ikora, alleging that these characters are “visually and phonetically similar.” Martineau believes Bungie didn’t just borrow character roles, but also mirrored names, voice tone, and even story themes like faith, echoes, and projections.
“Another striking similarity between Martineau’s work and Destiny 2 involves the use of ‘Echoes’ (a verbatim term that appears prominently in both works) in order to control, surveil, and the manipulate perception or reality,” the complaint reads.
“Another striking similarity between Martineau’s work and Destiny 2 involves the use of ‘Projections’ that are used to blend both scientific and supernatural content in both works.”
“Martineau’s work describes the Red Legion as ‘Red, Dark Crimson, and Evil Blue.’ Not coincidentally, in ‘the Twilight Gap’ (an area within the Destiny 2 game) the Red Legion is depicted as red, dark crimson and blue. Thus, Destiny 2 used the exact same color-scheme uniquely chosen and expressed in Martineau’s literary work.”
This isn’t the only legal trouble Bungie is dealing with right now. Former Marathon game director Chris Barrett is also suing Bungie and its parent company Sony for alleged wrongful termination.
You can read the full 56-page document here.
Bungie Facing New Claims in Destiny 2 Red War Lawsuit, Writer Alleges Curse of Osiris Expansion Also Stole… by TheGamePost on Scribd
