Destiny 2 Update 9.7.0.5 Targets Reward-Spamming Cheats as Bungie Store Prepares to Close

Bungie's October 7 patch stops cheaters pushing unearned rewards and XP onto other players, after a ban wave and news that the Bungie Store closes October 19.

Destiny 2 isn't getting new seasons anymore, but it's far from quiet. On October 7, 2026, Bungie pushed Update 9.7.0.5 to every platform, a small but pointed patch aimed at a strange new kind of cheating: players spamming other people's accounts with rewards and XP they never earned. It lands a week after a large ban wave, and in the same stretch Bungie confirmed that its long-running online merch store is shutting down. Here's what's going on and what it means if you're still playing.

Update 9.7.0.5: shutting down reward spam

The patch notes are short and focused entirely on the back end. Bungie says it has updated its code to stop cheat users from pushing unearned rewards and XP onto other players. The key points:

• The exploit used by cheaters to flood other accounts with loot and progress is now blocked.
• Accounts that used these cheats maliciously are being actioned.
• Players who received rewards without seeking them out will not be punished.
• Bungie points anyone who runs into cheaters toward its official reporting process for suspected cheating and poor behavior.

That third point is the important one for most players. If you logged in recently and found progress or items you didn't earn, Bungie's position is that you're not in trouble as long as you didn't go looking for it.

A ban wave came first

The patch follows a ban wave announced by the Destiny 2 Team on social media around October 1. Bungie described it as a "large" wave against accounts that broke the terms of service by cheating, using account recovery services, evading bans or paying for boosting. Bungie said it had also gone back through appeals from that wave to double-check its accuracy, though it didn't share how many accounts were affected.

In the same update, Bungie warned players not to share their login details or use recovery, boosting or cheat services, noting that accounts can be accessed repeatedly from hardware running cheat tools without the owner knowing. It also said it is still investigating newer cheats – which is exactly what 9.7.0.5 appears to address.

The Bungie Store closes on October 19

Separately, Bungie confirmed on October 2 that it is retiring the current Bungie Store – its storefront for Bungie and Destiny merchandise – on October 19. Here's what you need to know:

• The store's final sale ends on October 19 at 9:59 a.m. Pacific.
• Digital downloads and emblem codes tied to past purchases stay accessible until December 31. If you've got unredeemed emblems sitting in your account, now's the time to claim them.
• Bungie says it is building "a new home" for its merchandise and will share more next year. No reopening date has been given.
• The separate Marathon storefront stays open.

Store purchases have long come with in-game emblem codes, so if you've bought merch over the years, the December 31 cutoff is worth putting in your calendar.

The bigger picture: Destiny 2 in maintenance, unvaulting ahead

All of this happens against an unusual backdrop. Monument of Triumph, released in June 2026, was billed as Destiny 2's final live-service content update, and Bungie has since limited itself to maintenance patches and hotfixes like 9.7.0.5.

Then, in late September, Bungie changed course. Studio leaders Poria Torkan and Josh Deane announced that content removed through the Destiny Content Vault – vaulted campaigns, destinations and raids – will be restored for all players. Bungie says that content needs real work to fit the current game, including updated lighting, encounters and enemies, and it called the restoration the first step toward future Destiny stories and games. It also openly acknowledged the damage its earlier decision did to player trust.

What Bungie hasn't given is a date. The studio has only promised progress updates "in the coming months", and no timeline has been shared yet. Bungie's most recent roadmap posts, published October 6, were about Marathon's upcoming Nightfall Refresh and Symbiosis updates rather than Destiny.

What it means for players

If you're still playing Destiny 2, the takeaways are simple:

1. Don't worry about unearned rewards you didn't seek out – Bungie says innocent players won't be punished.
2. Do report cheaters you encounter through Bungie's official process.
3. Claim any Bungie Store emblem codes before December 31.
4. Don't expect new content soon. The unvaulting project is real, but Bungie hasn't attached a timeline.

For a game that was supposed to be winding down, Destiny 2 still has a lot of people paying attention – enough that cheaters found it worth targeting, and enough that Bungie is still patching to protect them. The next real milestone will be Bungie's first progress update on the unvaulting work.

This article was written by AI (Claude) and checked against the sources above. Games are updated regularly, so details may change.