Bungie, the gaming powerhouse behind hit games like Halo and Destiny, has been hit with fresh plagiarism accusations after a digital artist claimed the closed alpha for its new game Marathon is “plastered” with artwork lifted from her designs. The company has admitted to using stolen art and is waging a desperate PR campaign to save its upcoming game.
The Game Post reports that Bungie, the renowned developer behind the Destiny franchise, is once again under scrutiny as a digital artist has come forward with plagiarism allegations against its upcoming game, Marathon. The closed alpha for the highly anticipated extraction shooter recently launched, showcasing its striking “Graphic Realism” art style, which blends minimalist design with realistic world-building. However, the attention surrounding the game’s visuals has taken a controversial turn.
X user “4nt1r34l,” a digital artist, posted a detailed thread calling out Bungie and Marathon‘s art director, Joseph Cross. According to the artist, the Marathon closed alpha contains numerous graphics, patterns, and designs that are directly lifted from poster artwork she created as far back as 2017. To support her claim, the artist provided several side-by-side comparisons highlighting the striking similarities between elements from her posters and visuals seen throughout the alpha.
In her X post, the artist stated, “The Marathon Alpha [was] released recently, and its environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs I made in 2017. 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.”
She further expressed her exasperation, saying, “I don’t have the resources or the energy to spare to pursue this legally, but I have lost count of the number of times a major company has deemed it easier to pay a designer to imitate or steal my work than to write me an email. In 10 years, I have never made a consistent income from this work, and I am tired of designers from huge companies moodboarding and parasitising my designs while I struggle to make a living.”
This incident is not the first time Bungie has faced plagiarism or uncredited art use allegations. In the past, Destiny 2 has been embroiled in controversies involving a cutscene that reused a fan’s artwork and similar accusations surrounding official merchandise like the Ace of Spades NERF gun. In those instances, Bungie eventually acknowledged the mistakes, offered apologies, and provided compensation to the affected parties.
Shortly after the allegations came to light, Bungie released an official statement confirming that a former artist had included the artwork “in a texture sheet that was ultimately used in-game.” Bungie stated that they have reached out to 4nt1r34l to discuss the issue and are “committed to do right by the artist.”
Art Director Joseph Cross gave the artist a “personal apology” in a livestream that has been widely mocked by the gaming community.
Read more at the Game Post here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
