Marathon Uses Decals and Visual Style Stolen From Independent Artist Confirms Bungie

by

With the upcoming release of Bungie’s PvPvE extraction shooter Marathon set for September 23, the studio has been drawn into a fresh dispute. An artist known as Antireal has publicly alleged on social media platform X that Bungie has appropriated the artistic style and design elements from projects she was involved in back in 2017.

In her blog post, Antireal stated that “the Marathon alpha has been recently launched and its settings appear to have assets taken from poster designs I created back in 2017.” She further explained that while Bungie wasn’t required to hire her based on her design work, using her ideas without giving credit or payment wasn’t appropriate.

Antireal stated, “While Bungie isn’t required to hire me when creating a game that heavily utilizes a design style I’ve honed for the past decade, it’s apparent that my work was impressive enough for them to borrow ideas from and integrate them into their game without compensation or acknowledgment.

I’m unable to devote the necessary time and funds for a legal battle, but it seems that instead of contacting me, large corporations opt to copy or steal my designs more frequently.

For the past decade, I haven’t had a reliable source of income from this line of work. It’s disheartening to see designers from large corporations using and profiting off my designs, while I continue to face financial difficulties.

Antireal’s posts often include a range of pictures displaying some of her creations, and they share a striking similarity with the design style seen in Marathon trailers and artwork for quite some time now. It appears that certain aspects from Antireal’s art have been directly copied and incorporated into Marathon, as elements like “Aleph” are found both in her work and within the game itself.

In response, Bungie admitted on X that it appears Antireal’s work was utilized during the creation of Marathon. However, they clarify that their art team wasn’t aware of this, and they are now investigating how such a mistake occurred. Bungie has labeled the use of Antireal’s work in Marathon’s textures as “unauthorized artist decals.

The studio admitted that they were unaware of this problem within their current art team, and they’re currently investigating how this lapse happened. They want everyone to know that they take such issues very seriously. They have already contacted [Antireal] to discuss this matter and are determined to rectify the situation fairly for the artist.

“As a matter of policy, we do not use the work of artists without their permission.”

Bungie has announced that they will be examining their in-game resources meticulously from now on, aiming to establish stronger verification processes to credit artist contributions more accurately. They appreciate the creativity and hard work of all artists who contribute to their games, and they are dedicated to ensuring fair recognition for them. Thank you for bringing this matter to their attention.

Marathon is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and is currently undergoing playtests.

Read More

2025-05-16 16:11