Yes. Bungie and Matthew Kelsey Martineau reportedly settled all claims in Martineau’s lawsuit alleging that Destiny 2 copied elements from his earlier writings. The case was dismissed after a November 12, 2025 settlement conference, but the settlement terms were not disclosed. Neither the settlement nor the court’s earlier procedural ruling established that Bungie infringed Martineau’s copyright.
What the lawsuit alleged
Martineau sued Bungie in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on October 2, 2024. He said he wrote a series of works in 2013 and 2014 using the pen name Caspar Cole, and alleged that Destiny 2 used protectable elements from those works. The court’s account of his amended complaint summarizes the claimed parallels; they are allegations, not findings that the works were similar or that copying occurred. Read the May 2, 2025 court order.
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- Martineau described a Red Legion military force and a leader named Yinnerah, which he compared to Destiny 2’s Red Legion and Dominus Ghaul.
- He alleged parallels between a celestial entity above Earth and the game’s Traveler, as well as between war beasts, beacon messages, flamethrower-like weapons, and technology involving transferred consciousness.
These descriptions explain what Martineau claimed; they do not establish that any element was legally protectable or that Bungie used it unlawfully.
What the judge decided in May 2025
On May 2, 2025, the court declined to decide whether the works were substantially similar based on materials Bungie attached to its motion to dismiss. Those materials included YouTube gameplay excerpts and third-party wiki content. The court said their authenticity had not been established and that discovery had not had sufficient time to proceed. It would not use them as substitutes for the actual works in the requested comparison.
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The ruling was procedural: the court found that a merits decision based on its own comparison was inappropriate at that stage. It did not rule that Bungie copied Martineau’s work, and it did not vindicate Martineau’s claims. The case was not resolved by a trial verdict.
How the case ended
PC Gamer reported on November 17, 2025, that the parties settled all claims following a settlement conference on November 12. It quoted the dismissal order as saying the action was dismissed “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.” In other words, the order allowed for reopening within that period if the settlement was not completed. The cited report does not document a later reopening.
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The settlement terms were not disclosed in that report, and it identified no admission of wrongdoing by either side. The accurate description is that the parties reportedly settled and the case was dismissed—not that Bungie was found liable or that Martineau won a judicial finding of infringement. PC Gamer’s report on the settlement.
Timeline
- 2013–2014: Martineau says he wrote the works at issue under the pen name Caspar Cole.
- September 6, 2017: Destiny 2 was released, according to the court’s summary of the allegations.
- October 2, 2024: Martineau filed his copyright complaint.
- May 2, 2025: The court issued its order on Bungie’s motion to dismiss and the materials proposed for comparing the works.
- November 12, 2025: The parties attended a settlement conference, according to PC Gamer.
- November 17, 2025: PC Gamer reported the settlement and dismissal subject to the 60-day reopening provision if the settlement was not consummated.
What is—and is not—known about the outcome
The reported settlement ended the case without a public ruling on whether Destiny 2 infringed Martineau’s copyright. The available report does not disclose what either side agreed to, and the court’s May order addressed what evidence could be considered at an early procedural stage rather than deciding the infringement question.
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PC Gamer also reported that Martineau’s claims expanded to Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris and that he tried to add claims concerning Destiny Grimoire Anthology books. Those were reported as claims or attempted claims, not as findings that the game or books infringed copyright.
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