Visual artist @4nt1r34l recently took to Twitter to accuse Bungie of stealing art and visual style from her. The artist claimed that the studio ripped off her work made in 2017 with no credit or proper compensation. “The Marathon alpha was released recently, and its environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs I made in 2017,” she wrote. “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.” Since coming forward, Bungie publicly admitted to the plagiarism but claimed that the art team was unaware of the situation and is investigating how it could have happened. Additionally, according to a recent Forbes report, morale in the studio is in “free-fall” and that “the vibes have never been worse.” Everyone in the studio is concerned about the studio’s fate if the game doesn’t perform well, or how it will launch in a “now actively hostile environment.” Additionally, Sony and Bungie’s legal teams are reportedly trying to handle the situation.
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.
— MarathonDevTeam (@MarathonDevTeam) May 16, 2025
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
The full Bungie response posts read:
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.
This issue was unknown to 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
@4nt1r34l to discuss this issue and are committed to doing 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.
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