Here's what will happen. He will lose the $7M civil suit. He will have a judgement of $7M that Bungie is free to collect on such as wage garnishments if his home state allows it or repossessing any assets the state doesn't protect (many states block repossession of your primary household). At this point his option is Bankruptcy.
Depending on his total assets, a judge will either allow Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. Chapter 13 happens when you negotiate with your creditors based on your income. In Chapter 7, you discharge the entirety of the debt. If he does not file Bankruptcy, then Bungie can reinstate the judgement every 10 years (time depends on the state) and continue collecting until his death.
After Bankruptcy, the debt will follow him for 7 years (possibly more as unscrupulous debt buyers will give him a taste of his own medicine filing invalid, but hard to prove, claims on his credit report). The size of the debt may make seeking employment difficult. Having a judgement of any size will limit his ability to rent houses or getting any sort of credit. And good luck getting any kind of government clearance. This is the real debtor's prison which will regulate him to living under sleazy landlords likely in questionable locations, getting loans with insanely high APRs, and having to use his own money to generate credit (secured credit cards). Even though judgements last for 7 years, after bankruptcy you are usually out of this prison in 3-4 years. FWIW, many loan officers may look at that judgement as a clerical error (someone pressed 0 too many times) but once they ask for clarity all bets are off. But I've heard many stories of people climbing into a $50K car loan a year after bankruptcy so his mileage may vary
EDIT: Bungie and this gentleman could settle out of court with no judgement as well. The filed civil suit will still be a public record but that is much lower weight on one's credit score. The out of court settlement could stipulate no more bungie content being uploaded or posted on the internet for a period of time. There are many different directions, what I outlined is if this person does not respond or otherwise loses the civil suit
Or he will do something like leave the United States entirely and get a low-end job teaching English in China, or something similar.
There's a number of things overseas that a reasonably well educated American can try to get hired for, and a US domestic civil judgment won't show up on a criminal background check if one is run.
Leaving the United States doesn’t absolve him of the debt. Any wages or assets he makes in the USA is subject to garnishment. I would fully recommend bankruptcy for this individual regardless of his residence
Civil cases are dischargable. Government judgements iirc cannot be discharged. The two most well known are IRS debt and government backed student loan debt
EDIT: the government agency has a method to discharge the debt, which is why the courts will not intervene except under extraordinary circumstances
It seems like actual debtors' prison, or rather a system of translating judgement debts to months imprisonment, would be better than the current system, for everyone. It keeps these consequences from being invisible.
No because you still have all of your rights. The government is not infringing on your freedoms, they are providing a service (the courts) to settle disputes between civilians
Depending on his total assets, a judge will either allow Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. Chapter 13 happens when you negotiate with your creditors based on your income. In Chapter 7, you discharge the entirety of the debt. If he does not file Bankruptcy, then Bungie can reinstate the judgement every 10 years (time depends on the state) and continue collecting until his death.
After Bankruptcy, the debt will follow him for 7 years (possibly more as unscrupulous debt buyers will give him a taste of his own medicine filing invalid, but hard to prove, claims on his credit report). The size of the debt may make seeking employment difficult. Having a judgement of any size will limit his ability to rent houses or getting any sort of credit. And good luck getting any kind of government clearance. This is the real debtor's prison which will regulate him to living under sleazy landlords likely in questionable locations, getting loans with insanely high APRs, and having to use his own money to generate credit (secured credit cards). Even though judgements last for 7 years, after bankruptcy you are usually out of this prison in 3-4 years. FWIW, many loan officers may look at that judgement as a clerical error (someone pressed 0 too many times) but once they ask for clarity all bets are off. But I've heard many stories of people climbing into a $50K car loan a year after bankruptcy so his mileage may vary
EDIT: Bungie and this gentleman could settle out of court with no judgement as well. The filed civil suit will still be a public record but that is much lower weight on one's credit score. The out of court settlement could stipulate no more bungie content being uploaded or posted on the internet for a period of time. There are many different directions, what I outlined is if this person does not respond or otherwise loses the civil suit