Bungie veteran Joseph Cross appears to have stepped away as Marathon’s Franchise Art Director, based on recent LinkedIn and social media changes.
Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter Marathon has slowly been finding its footing again after a rocky year. The studio released a new 22-minute ViDoc giving us a much cleaner, more polished look at the game, along with new dev updates on what’s changed since the early Closed Alpha test. Bungie is now targeting a March 2026 release window for the game.
Following its gameplay reveal earlier this year, the game faced heavy criticism from parts of the community, with fans asking for features like proximity chat, solo play, and improved visuals. Bungie has confirmed that proximity chat and solo play option are coming to Marathon, and we already saw a much better look at the exterior environments in the new ViDoc.
But Marathon hasn’t had an easy road since its gameplay reveal earlier this year. The biggest controversy came from the art theft situation, where 1:1 design assets were found in the alpha build of the game that had been used without permission from independent artist Antireal (4nt1r34l). Bungie publicly acknowledged and apologized for the issue at the time, and Antireal later said the dispute has been resolved to her satisfaction.
Now, there is a new development that has caught the attention of fans.
Joseph Cross Appears to No Longer Be Marathon’s Franchise Art Director
It appears that longtime Bungie veteran Joseph Cross may no longer be serving as Marathon’s Franchise Art Director, or may have left Bungie entirely.
This information comes from changes spotted on Cross’ LinkedIn profile, where his role as Senior Art Director at Bungie is listed as ending (or ended) sometime in 2025. Cross had held that position since 2018, which is around when Marathon entered development. His long tenure made him one of the key creative figures tied to the project.
In addition to LinkedIn, Cross’ public social media presence has also changed. Earlier this year, his X profile bio listed him as “Franchise Art Director, Marathon @ Bungie.” That wording has since been updated to a broader description that reads “Art Director & Artist – Marathon. Dune. Destiny…” with no direct mention of Bungie or a specific leadership role.
Update, December 18, 2:03 PM PT: After our report, Kotaku’s Ethan Gach reached out to Joseph Cross. Cross confirmed he left Bungie by choice. “I’m super proud of the project and what the team accomplished over the last six years,” Cross said.
This does not fully confirm that Joseph Cross has left Bungie. It is also possible that he has simply moved into a different position within the studio or stepped away from the Marathon project while remaining at Bungie in another role.
The Game Post has reached out to both Joseph Cross and Bungie for comment. We will update this story if we receive a response.
As for Marathon itself, Bungie recently announced several changes aimed at addressing player feedback, including improvements to visual clarity, emphasis on “dark sci-fi world” building, and new social features like proximity chat.
What do you think about this potential leadership change and Marathon’s road to release? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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