Destiny 2 player ordered to pay $500K for harassing Bungie developer
A Destiny 2 player called Jesse James Comer has been ordered to pay almost $500,000 for harassing a community manager–referred to as D. Doe–at Bungie because the studio chose to promote artwork created by a black fan during its "My Destiny 2 Story" community spotlight series.
A Default Judgement and Order (Google Doc) issued on July 11, 2023, and shared online by Kathryn Tewson, who helped Bungie identify the culprit, describes how Comer began a campaign of "racist, stochastic terrorism" against the studio and Doe.
It explains how Comer would target Doe by using a TextNow VOIP service to leave "hideous, bigoted" voicemails to repeatedly ask Bungie to "create options in its game in which only persons of color would be killed."
Comer also targeted Doe's wife, leaving threatening and frightening voicemails that indicated he knew where they lived and could assault them. He also used an anonymous number to place a cash on delivery pizza order to further intimidate the Does, telling the delivery driver to "knock at leave five times" on the Does' door because he would purportedly be wearing headphones.
The situation ultimately required Bungie to take "expensive measures" to protect the Does from the threat posed by Comer, with the studio sending out executive protection within an hour of the pizza attack and notifying the local police department.
The company also engaged with investigators and outside counsel to identify and locate Comer, and eventually had to retain additional investigators and counsel in West Virginia, where Comer lived, to obtain a restraining order against them.
Comer's harassment campaign resulted in Doe needed to take time off from work and curtail their public interactions with Destiny 2 fans, which, as
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