Bungie is facing new plagiarism accusations after an artist claims Marathon’s closed alpha is “plastered” with stolen art.
Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon, has been in the spotlight recently thanks to its closed alpha launch and its bold, visually striking art direction. Many in the community have been talking about the game’s “Graphic Realism” style, a mix of sharp, minimalist design and realistic world-building.
But while the art has earned plenty of attention, Bungie is now dealing with a very different kind of headline, as a digital artist has stepped forward with plagiarism claims about the alpha.
Artist Accuses Bungie of Using Uncredited Work In Marathon
The new accusation comes from X (Twitter) user 4nt1r34l, who posted a detailed thread today calling out Bungie and Marathon’s art director, Joseph Cross. According to 4nt1r34l, the recent Marathon closed alpha is filled with graphics, patterns, and designs lifted directly from poster artwork she created as far back as 2017.
The artist provided several side-by-side images comparing elements from her posters to visuals seen throughout the alpha, and the similarities are honestly hard to ignore.
4nt1r34l’s post quickly gained traction in the Marathon and Destiny communities, with many expressing concern over the apparent overlap. The artist’s frustration is clear, especially as this isn’t the first time she’s had her work used without credit by a major studio.
“The Marathon Alpha [was] released recently, and its environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs I made in 2017,” the X post reads. “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.”
“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.”
You can check out the side-by-side comparisons below.
This isn’t the first time Bungie has been accused of plagiarism or uncredited art use. In Destiny 2, there have been past controversies over a cutscene that reused a fan’s artwork, as well as similar accusations involving official merchandise like the Ace of Spades NERF gun.
In those cases, Bungie did eventually acknowledge the mistake and offered apologies and compensation. So far, Bungie has not commented publicly on the Marathon alpha claims.
Update, May 15, 4:27 PM PT: We’ve extracted in-game assets directly from the files, allowing for a much clearer comparison between the Marathon textures and the original artwork by 4nt1r34l. Check them out below.
Update, May 15, 8:46 PM PT: Bungie has now released an official statement regarding the plagiarism claims, confirming that a former artist included the artwork “in a texture sheet that was ultimately used in-game.”
“We immediately investigated a concern regarding unauthorized use of artist decals in Marathon and confirmed that a former Bungie artist included these in a texture sheet that was ultimately used in-game.
“We have reached out to 4nt1r34l to discuss this issue and are committed to do right by the artist.”
What do you think about these accusations? Let us know your thoughts below.
