A month ago, leaked images began appearing online that seemed to show upcoming changes and content for Bungie’s looter shooter: Destiny 2.
The leaks themselves came as no surprise to many of those in the Destiny community. This kind of thing has happened before. So many times, in fact, that many Destiny players have had an idea about what upcoming content would include for a very long time, with a trail of mostly accurate leaks stretching back years. But this time, something was different.
Previously, leaked information on upcoming content appeared to come from within Bungie’s own ranks, in at least one case where current employees were apparently fired for leaking and another where a self-described disgruntled, fired employee leaked a year’s worth of content out of spite (only a small amount of which has proven true so far).
But with this latest round of leaks, Bungie pointed the finger in an unexpected direction: its own community of influencers.
Bungie Identifies A Leaker
Bungie first broke the news via a series of tweets from an employee-managed account:
Breaches of this trust could result in our inability to hold more summits. We take these breaches extremely seriously and are taking actions to reinforce our policies with those invited to these internal meetings.
— Destiny 2 Team (@Destiny2Team) April 14, 2023
In the tweets, the developer references Bungie Community Summits, where content creators are invited to in-person or digital events to preview changes coming to the game and get a chance to voice their feedback and have an impact on its future. Similar to Bungie’s in-person and digital events, everyone involved in these summits agrees to non-disclosure agreements (or NDAs) and embargoes as a condition of their attendance, which bars attendees from disclosing information until a specified date and time.
Bungie’s tweets about these community events came hours after well-known Destiny streamer Ekuegan, who has helped thousands of players through some of Destiny 2’s most challenging content, announced on-stream that he would no longer be playing Destiny. His announcement stated only that “[Bungie] made a decision,” which led many to believe that Ekuegan had been identified by Bungie as the leaker.
A few days later, without mentioning Ekuegan by name, Bungie confirmed that its investigation had concluded:
We are very disappointed to have learned this information and wish that things had gone differently with this person. We do not take these actions lightly, and we are confident in our decision.
This is our final communication on the matter.
— Destiny 2 Team (@Destiny2Team) April 18, 2023
True to their tweet, Bungie representatives declined to comment to IGN for this story.
Taskbars Tell The Tale
So how exactly did Bungie come to believe that Ekuegan was the leaker? While Bungie hasn’t offered up a more specific answer, many believe the answer lies in the leaked images themselves, which include taskbar icons that are an identical match with the streamer’s own taskbar that can be seen on his streams every day.
For his own part, Ekuegan has remained steadfast in his denial of any wrongdoing in a series of tweets and comments during streams, where he speculated that someone may have photoshopped in the taskbar to frame him and claimed that he’s working to clear his name.
All I know is, that company made a huge mistake and I will clear my name. I am working on it, Don’t worry < I see the real ones on the tags. My head is held high, I had a nature day today and man getting off the internet felt great.
— G1 EK (@Ekuegan) April 17, 2023
Ekuegan also claimed that he had been banned from playing Destiny 2 by Bungie, a move typically reserved for those caught cheating. If true, this would be unprecedented by Bungie so far as we know, as previous community leakers like streamer/YouTuber WishYouLuckk were not banned for leaking – though WishYouLuckk was later banned for alleged cheating.
People ask why did I quit? I am banned During Grand Master Season , I am forced to quit and I have to let my audience know. People put two & two together from their statement. You basically wanted me to be witch hunted because you think I am guilty. But you preach Positivity
— G1 EK (@Ekuegan) April 17, 2023
Ekuegan also declined to comment to IGN for this story.
While the leaked screenshots make a compelling case against Ekuegan, much of the evidence Bungie alleges to have has not been presented to the public. Specifically, we don’t know what “video recordings” or “verified messages” Bungie’s tweet references. What we do know is that a certain Discord server known for past Destiny leaks, called Destiny News Network, is the original public source of the leaked images – specifically one of the server’s admins who goes by the username Freezing Dart.
And while they won’t say who leaked the screenshots to them, Freezing Dart claims they didn’t get them from Ekuegan. A couple days after Bungie pointed to the Community Summit as the source of the leaks, in a defensive Discord comment riddled with profanity, Freezing Dart said “I’m not outing my sources and even if I did that wouldn’t clear his name.”
What Freezing Dart is likely referring to here is the fact that, even if Ekuegan didn’t leak the images himself, they pretty clearly came from his computer at the very least, which is itself a violation according to Bungie’s NDAs. Many NDAs, including a number of those historically used by Bungie, contain a clause called “Protection of Confidential Information.” The section is a commonplace, boilerplate agreement which holds the signee responsible for the protecting of any confidential information they have access to and holds them accountable for the dissminating of any confidential information originating from them – whether they intended it or not.
In other words, it’s up to the person receiving confidential information to keep it confidential, so even if someone took screenshots from Ekuegan’s computer without his knowledge or consent, it still runs afoul of this clause, and Ekuegan would be legally liable.
A Community Comes to Ekuegan’s Defense
With Bungie’s latest round of tweets on the subject, they consider the matter resolved, but some in the community were unconvinced, including Forbes writer – and, disclaimer, my former Fireteam Chat co-panelist – Paul Tassi, who detailed his reservations about Bungie’s conclusion in an article last week. In the post, Tassi offered a couple alternate theories as to what may have happened, including the possibility that someone in Ekuegan’s life gained access to his computer/data for the purposes of leaking it – like one of his moderators, for example. While it’s certainly not out of the question, these theories don’t address the “video recordings” and “verified messages” that Bungie alleges to have.
Many high-profile content creators in the Destiny community expressed confusion and disbelief, like Aztecross and Gladd, who praised Ekuegan without voicing a definitive opinion on the accusations made against him:
I’ve seen @Ekuegan as nothing but kind to me & the community. He’s a pillar.
I trust him; take it for what it’s worth.
At the VERY least, Bungie needs to look at this more closely.
We cannot judge. Only a few know the facts, & THEY need to talk it out.
— Gladd (@Gladd) April 16, 2023
All this shit makes me uncomfortable man.. @Ekuegan has always been a good dude to me. I was at this summit, and the man offered a ton of fantastic advice and input. He was a great resource for the D2 community.
Regardless of whether or not he did it, the situation sucks.
— Aztecross (@Aztecross) April 15, 2023
Others were happy to side with Bungie, condemning Ekuegan for leaking or mishandling confidential information, especially since Bungie has admitted that leaks of this nature make it harder to justify future summits.
Meanwhile, Bungie employees and members of their PR team sounded off to express their disappointment with the situation.
We want you to succeed. I’ve seen so many creators lose entire brands because of one decision. If you’re under NDA, no matter the nature, HONOR that. Don’t show your friends, no matter how much you think you can trust them. VALUE yourself, because you’re amazing.
— Liana Ruppert (@DirtyEffinHippy) April 14, 2023
This kind of thing also makes it hard for us on the PR side to comfortably pre-pitch things to press. Don’t break your NDAs for a little bit of clout. You mess up future opportunities for your peers. https://t.co/qS1NdTR2gt
— CJ Melendez (@CJMelendez_) April 14, 2023
But then, yet another wrinkle in the narrative appeared when Freezing Dart reappeared online days later to clarify their position, accusing Ekuegan of being the source of the leak even if unintentionally.
Ekuegan broke NDA by capturing the summit and spreading it, either intentionally or having a breach of his security in a way that manifested in the leak. I’ve signed NDAs and abided by them myself, you cannot have the subject information be disclosed by any means.
— Destiny News Network (@destiny_dnn) April 20, 2023
In the thread, Freezing Dart goes on to cast doubt at Ekuegan’s claim that he was banned from Destiny 2 at all — something that has never been confirmed by Bungie.
As you can see, no such game ban exists on his profile. He actually still had it installed in the last stream I saw. I don’t like lies. It confused me why someone would lie about this, typically it’s someone who was banned lying about not being banned and “taking a break”. pic.twitter.com/JhRk65BFsc
— Destiny News Network (@destiny_dnn) April 20, 2023
It’s worth noting that Freezing Dart’s claim that a ban would always appear on a Steam profile isn’t necessarily true. That’s because Destiny 2 is a cross-platform game with cross-progression, and if Ekuegan’s account were originally created on a different platform then later moved to Steam via cross-progression, a ban most likely wouldn’t appear on his Steam profile.
But if such a ban were imposed, it would be an unprecedented move by Bungie, which has always simply cut PR ties with leakers but left their ability to play the game intact.
Despite all the emotions and drama surrounding the situation, we’re unlikely to ever get an answer from either party, as Bungie won’t comment further and Ekuegan has already moved on to streaming other games. And yet, division online appears to be growing as some demand Bungie provide proof of Ekuegan’s wrongdoing, while others bemoan Bungie subtweeting about it in the first place, and others still wonder why no lawsuits have been filed by either party.
For now, the situation serves as a good reminder that games coverage is an exercise in trust – sometimes that’s harder to come by than a God-rolled Adept Immortal SMG.
Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read his games coverage here.
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