Games

Bungie responds to Marathon stolen art allegations as artist speaks out

BBG News

Bungie is currently negotiating with the artists who were affected by the use of their artwork in Marathon, regarding appropriate financial reimbursement for the unauthorized utilization.

Bungie, creators of the Marathon series, have acknowledged that certain artwork featured in their new game was taken without permission from a third-party artist. Upon comparison of the assets, such as logos and textures related to the Marathon universe, it was determined they were not authorized for use due to similarities with the original artist’s work.

Following the remarks made by the artist recognized on Twitter as “4nt1r34l” or Antireal, who expressed concerns over Bungie incorporating aspects from their works into Marathon without obtaining proper consent, a response was subsequently issued.

Accusations of plagiarism ignite fury among community: Stolen art “plastered” all over Marathon

Antireal’s social media post on Twitter raised suspicions about potential plagiarism in the artwork created by Bungie’s team for the game Marathon, as it showcased similarities to designs from one of Antireal’s 2017 projects. The post presented a side-by-side comparison of these designs.

The design elements in certain areas of the map or object textures appear to have been influenced by Antireal’s poster designs, which is noticeable. However, it’s troubling that some details were not only inspired but directly copied and used on various surfaces within Marathon.

Over the past decade, I’ve never managed to earn a reliable income from this line of work. It’s frustrating that large design firms continue to borrow and exploit my ideas, all while I’m barely making ends meet. This is what Antireal expressed.

It seems that the quality of my work was appreciated enough to be used extensively in their project, but unfortunately, I did not receive any compensation or recognition for it.

@4nt1r34l on

X/Twitter

Antireal stated that due to lack of necessary resources, they can’t take legal action against Bungie. However, they expressed frustration at instances where large corporations often pay to replicate or plagiarize their work rather than collaborating with Antireal directly.

Although it’s not necessary for Bungie to hire me when they create a game heavily influenced by the design style I’ve perfected for ten years, it’s undeniably evident that my work was valuable enough for them to borrow ideas from and incorporate them into their game without compensation or acknowledgement,” Antireal concluded.

Bungie acknowledged Antireal’s claim several hours later, revealing that an ex-artist at their company had incorporated Antireal’s designs into a texture sheet for the game’s early version. The current art team was unaware of this issue, and Bungie is now investigating how this oversight happened.

The business has communicated with Antireal to address the issue of using their resources without proper authorization. In other words, it is our policy not to employ the works of artists unless we have obtained their consent first.

Regrettably, Bungie’s policy regarding fan artwork hasn’t been completely watertight during the past few years. Recently, their team responsible for Halo and Destiny franchises has been found using fan art without permission, with a few instances being discovered as recent as 2023. This includes an oversight in a cutscene that year and even a physical replica of the Ace of Spades in NERF form in 2024.

A thorough examination by the community uncovered that Antireal’s artistic and design ideologies were more deeply incorporated into the early version of Marathon, as it later came to light that Marathon’s art director, Joseph Cross, had been following Antireal on social media for a while prior to the alpha’s release last month.

Bungie hasn’t provided any additional details about the issue. It remains undecided if they’ll provide reparations for the copied material, but given their history, they may have done so in similar instances.

Considering the extensive nature of the stolen assets, it might require a considerable effort to alter and adjust the textures within the game. Therefore, it seems beneficial that Bungie and Antireal find common ground in a mutual agreement.

For more Marathon news stay tuned to Xpsp.

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2025-05-16 09:40

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