Fern “Antireal” Hook, the artist who discovered her personal designs and graphics in Bungie’s Marathon, has confirmed she has “resolved” the difficulty with the studio and its mother or father firm Sony.
In a short update posted to X/Twitter, Hook wrote: “The Marathon artwork situation has been resolved with Bungie and Sony Interactive Leisure to my satisfaction.” She didn’t present particulars of any settlement.
Future 2 developer Bungie discovered itself battling accusations of plagiarism again in Could after Hook accused the studio of lifting elements of her paintings for its upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon. In screenshots taken from Marathon’s alpha playtest accompanying the tweet, Hook alleged she might see distinct icons and graphics she designed, a few of which had been initially shared on social media years ago in 2017.
bungie is after all not obligated to rent me when making a recreation that pulls overwhelmingly from the identical design language i’ve refined for the final decade, however clearly my work was adequate to pillage for concepts and plaster throughout their recreation with out pay or attribution. pic.twitter.com/G3FbPtbPJD
— N² (@4nt1r34l) May 15, 2025
Shortly afterwards, Marathon recreation director Joe Ziegler and artwork director Joe Cross apologized on a painfully uncomfortable livestream that featured no Marathon artwork or footage in any respect, because the group was “nonetheless scrubbing all of our property to make it possible for we’re being respectful of the state of affairs.” The studio commenced an “fast investigation,” finally acknowledging {that a} “former Bungie artist” had certainly used Fern Hook’s work with out compensation or credit score.
After which, after all, Marathon was delayed into 2026 as Bungie labored to answer suggestions from playtests. Issues went very quiet till Marathon reemerged in October, when Bungie introduced the extraction shooter was prepared for a restricted, invite-only playtest for gamers in North America and Europe throughout PS5, Xbox Collection X and S, and Steam.
The artwork situation continues to forged a shadow, although. Final month, the director of the Marathon reveal cinematic brief expressed his disbelief that he felt compelled to come back out and defend the work as “not AI.”
Marathon has actually endured a troubled growth and has suffered a number of delays. The strain is on for Marathon to succeed amid Future 2’s high-profile struggles. Earlier this month, mother or father firm Sony stated Bungie had failed to satisfy its gross sales and person engagement targets, ensuing in a $200 million impairment cost.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, in addition to a critic, columnist, and marketing consultant with 15+ years expertise working with a few of the world’s largest gaming websites and publications. She’s additionally a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually Excessive Chaos. Discover her at BlueSky.