Future 2 developer Bungie is as soon as once more battling accusations of plagiarism after yet one more artist accused the studio of “lifting” elements of their paintings, this time for its upcoming sci-fi shooter, Marathon.
After quite a few artists and a author got here ahead claiming Bungie used their work with out authorization or credit score, yet one more artist is claiming their work was used within the environments of Marathon. In screenshots taken from Marathon’s alpha playtest accompanying the tweet, artist Antireal alleged they might see distinct icons and graphics they designed, a few of which have been initially shared on social media years ago in 2017.
the Marathon alpha launched lately and its environments are coated with property lifted from poster designs i made in 2017.@Bungie @josephacross pic.twitter.com/0Csbo48Jgb
— N² (@4nt1r34l) May 15, 2025
“Bungie is, after all, not obligated to rent me when making a sport that attracts overwhelmingly from the identical design language I’ve refined for the final decade, however clearly my work was ok to pillage for concepts and plaster throughout their sport with out pay or attribution,” the artist wrote in a press release posted to X/Twitter.
“I haven’t got the sources nor the vitality to spare to pursue this legally however I’ve misplaced depend of the variety of occasions a serious firm has deemed it simpler to pay a designer to imitate or steal my work than to write me an electronic mail. In 10 years, I’ve by no means made a constant revenue from this work and I’m uninterested in designers from large corporations moodboarding and parasitising my designs whereas I battle to make a residing.”
Bungie responded inside hours. Although it didn’t publicly apologize, it stated it had now launched an investigation, attributing the “situation” to a former Bungie artist, and reached out to the artist involved.
“We instantly investigated a priority relating to unauthorized use of artist decals in Marathon and confirmed {that a} former Bungie artist included these in a texture sheet that was finally used in-game,” the crew stated in a statement. “This situation was unknown by our current artwork crew, and we’re nonetheless reviewing how this oversight occurred.
“We take issues like this very severely. We’ve reached out to [the artist] to talk about this situation and are dedicated to do proper by the artist. As a matter of coverage, we don’t use the work of artists with out their permission.
“To stop related points sooner or later, we’re conducting a radical evaluation of our in-game property, particularly these completed by the previous Bungie artist, and implementing stricter checks to doc all artist contributions. We worth the creativity and dedication of all artists who contribute to our video games, and we’re dedicated to doing proper by them. Thanks for bringing this to our consideration.”
This isn’t the primary time Bungie has been accused of lifting concepts from elsewhere. In October, the studio was slapped with a lawsuit after a author claimed the studio stole plot components from his story and used them for content material in Future 2’s 2017 storyline, The Purple Struggle. Bungie lately tried to get the lawsuit dismissed however a judge denied the request as Bungie scrambled to provide evidence having since “vaulted” the content material so it’s not publicly playable.
Simply weeks earlier than that lawsuit was filed, Bungie launched a unique investigation to verify how a NERF gun based mostly on Future 2’s iconic Ace of Spades was lifted virtually wholesale from fanart designed back in 2015, together with each brush stroke, scratch, and smudge on the weapon.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and advisor. She’s additionally a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually Excessive Chaos. Discover her at BlueSky.