Bungie Clarifies Destiny 2 Mass Bans On PC - It's A Slippery Slope

The Destiny 2 PC launch has finally arrived and Bungie fans are finally getting to play a piece of [...]

By Liana 'LiLi' Ruppert

The Destiny 2 PC launch has finally arrived and Bungie fans are finally getting to play a piece of this franchise on this particular platform for the very first time! The uncapped frame rates make it a wild ride but that doesn't mean that the PC camp doesn't like to use other programs to help make the experience the best version it can possibly be. Whether that be enhancing the social experience with team clients like Discord, or wanting an easier way to screen capture alongside optimization with the likes of MSI Afterburner; these programs are incredibly common. Unfortunately, they can also get PC players banned permanently. At least, that was originally thought - Bungie has a few things they'd like to clarify.

Bungie's response

The mass bans of Destiny 2 players occurred warning and for many, without cause. This immediately prompted confusion among the player base as well as frustration as it seemed to be an irreversible punishment. Bungie took to their community forums to address the concerns and offer a little more clarification to what's been going on:

We have seen lots of questions about bans being issued in the PC version of Destiny 2. To provide some information, we would like to share some facts.

The following is true:

  • Destiny 2 cannot automatically ban you, only Bungie can ban a player after a manual investigation
  • Yesterday, we banned approximately 400 players on PC
  • Bans were applied to players who were using tools that pose a threat to the shared ecosystem of the game
  • We did not (and will not) issue any bans for the use of overlays or performance tools, including Discord, Xsplit, OBS, RTSS, etc.
  • Information on using third-party applications can be found here: https://www.bungie.net/en/Help/Article/46101
  • We are overturning 4 of the bans that were issued during the PC Beta

We are committed to providing an experience that is fun and fair for the millions of players who have joined us in this community.

Update: As part of our ban review process, we have identified a group of players who were banned in error. Those players have been unbanned. The bans were not related to the third-party applications listed above. We will continue to review the process we use to ensure a fun and fair game. prevnext

Which programs were suspected of permanent bans?

Earlier, these were the type of third party programs that were suspected of giving players the boot:

  • Discord
  • Fraps
  • MSI Afterburner
  • OBS
  • XSplit
  • And More

But PC project Lead David Shaw has said that was "internet bs". With the aforementioned statement from Bungie, these aren't mass bans that were just dropped from thin air as many suspected. Bungie assures players that bans only take place after careful investigation and those players that "pose a threat to the shared ecosystem of the game."

It's also important to notate that though they have previously stated that bans are permanent, they have later clarified that this is not the case and that those thought to be issued in error are being given another look to see what went wrong.

Destiny 2 is out now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

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