Bungie has admitted to finding stolen art assets in its upcoming extraction shooter Marathon. Graphic artist Antireal has taken to X to claim that Bungie used their poster designs from 2017 without compensation or credit. Bungie admits the claims, and says it will undertake a complete review of the game’s assets.
Antireal posted to X on May 15, claiming that “The Marathon alpha released recently and its environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs I made in 2017.” They tagged both Bungie and Marathon’s franchise art director, Joseph Cross.
They continue, “Bungie is of course not obligated to hire me when making a game that draws overwhelmingly from the same design language I have refined for the last decade, but clearly my work was good enough to pillage for ideas and plaster all over their game without pay or attribution.”
Antireal explains that they don’t have the resources “nor the energy” to pursue the matter legally, but that it isn’t the first time they’ve faced similar issues. Antireal even confirms that Cross has followed their account “for a few years.”
Bungie responded via its own Marathon dev team X account to say that it “immediately investigated” the concerns, and “confirmed that a former Bungie artist included these in a texture sheet that was ultimately used in-game.” It goes on to state that the issue was “unknown” to the existing art team, and it is reviewing how the oversight happened.
Bungie also says it reached out to Antireal to discuss the matter. “[We] are committed to do right by the artist,” it confirms. “As a matter of policy, we do not use the work of artists without their permission.” The developer also confirms that to prevent “similar issues” happening again, it will conduct a “thorough review” of game assets, with particular emphasis on the former artist responsible for the issue.
However, it’s not the first time Bungie has been caught using assets without permission, as X user GaminCounselor points out. In 2021, the Witch Queen DLC trailer featured fan art of Xivu Arath without credit. In 2023, a Destiny 2 cutscene used near-identical fan art without permission. In 2024, the Ace of Spades NERF gun merchandise appeared to copy a fan-created design. In all cases Bungie reached out to the artists to apologize, credit, or compensate them–but four occurrences of art theft in as many years raises questions about Bungie’s internal policies when it comes to these matters.
Bungie plans to host a Marathon stream later today (May 16) at 1PM PT / 6PM ET. It’s unlikely that it will address the asset theft during the stream, but given the interactive nature of Twitch, viewers may well have comment to pass. Marathon is set for release on September 23, and while it won’t be “full price,” Bungie says it will be “a premium title.”
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