Marathon Developer Bungie Launches ‘Thorough Review’ After Once Again Being Found to Have Used Work From an Uncredited Artist

Destiny 2 developer Bungie is once again battling accusations of plagiarism after yet another artist accused the studio of “lifting” aspects of their artwork, this time for its upcoming sci-fi shooter, Marathon.

After numerous artists and a writer came forward claiming Bungie used their work without authorization or credit, yet another artist is claiming their work was used in the environments of Marathon. In screenshots taken from Marathon’s alpha playtest accompanying the tweet, artist Antireal alleged they could see distinct icons and graphics they designed, some of which were originally shared on social media years ago in 2017.

the Marathon alpha released recently and its environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs i made in 2017.@Bungie @josephacross pic.twitter.com/0Csbo48Jgb

— N² (@4nt1r34l) May 15, 2025

“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,” the artist wrote in a statement posted to X/Twitter.

“I don’t have the resources nor 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.”

Bungie responded within hours. Though it did not publicly apologize, it said it had now launched an investigation, attributing the “issue” to a former Bungie artist, and reached out to the artist concerned.

“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,” the team said in a statement. “This issue was unknown by our existing art team, and we are still reviewing how this oversight occurred.

“We take matters like this very seriously. We have reached out to [the artist] to discuss this issue and are committed to do right by the artist. As a matter of policy, we do not use the work of artists without their permission.

“To prevent similar issues in the future, we are conducting a thorough review of our in-game assets, specifically those done by the former Bungie artist, and implementing stricter checks to document all artist contributions. We value the creativity and dedication of all artists who contribute to our games, and we are committed to doing right by them. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”

This is not the first time Bungie has been accused of lifting ideas from elsewhere. In October, the studio was slapped with a lawsuit after a writer claimed the studio stole plot elements from his story and used them for content in Destiny 2’s 2017 storyline, The Red War. Bungie recently tried to get the lawsuit dismissed but a judge denied the request as Bungie scrambled to provide evidence having since “vaulted” the content so it is no longer publicly playable.

Just weeks before that lawsuit was filed, Bungie launched a different investigation to ascertain how a NERF gun based on Destiny 2’s iconic Ace of Spades was lifted almost wholesale from fanart designed back in 2015, including every brush stroke, scratch, and smudge on the weapon.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.