Bungie Launches In-Depth Probe into Uncredited Art in Marathon

Destiny 2 developer Bungie faces fresh plagiarism allegations after an artist accused the studio of using their artwork without permission in its upcoming sci-fi shooter, Marathon.

Following claims from multiple artists and a writer about unauthorized use of their work, another artist has reported that their designs appeared in Marathon’s environments. In screenshots from the game’s alpha playtest shared on X, artist Antireal identified distinct icons and graphics they created, some originally posted on social media 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 isn’t required to hire me for a game heavily inspired by my design style, honed over a decade, but they clearly found my work worthy enough to use without credit or payment,” the artist stated on X/Twitter.

“I lack the resources and energy to pursue legal action, but I’ve lost count of how often major companies find it easier to pay designers to mimic or steal my work rather than contact me. In ten years, I’ve never earned a steady income from my designs, and I’m exhausted by large studios profiting off my creations while I struggle to make ends meet,” they added.

Bungie responded swiftly, launching an investigation and attributing the issue to a former artist, while reaching out to the affected artist.

“We promptly investigated reports of unauthorized artist decals in Marathon and confirmed a former Bungie artist included these in a texture sheet used in-game,” the studio said in a statement. “This was unknown to our current art team, and we’re still examining how this oversight occurred.

“We take these matters seriously and have contacted [the artist] to address this. It’s our policy to never use artists’ work without permission.

“To prevent future issues, we’re conducting a comprehensive review of in-game assets, particularly those created by the former artist, and introducing stricter checks to track all artist contributions. We deeply value the creativity of artists who contribute to our games and are committed to treating them fairly. Thank you for raising this concern.”

This isn’t Bungie’s first brush with such accusations. In October, a writer filed a lawsuit, alleging the studio used plot elements from his story in Destiny 2’s 2017 storyline, The Red War. Bungie’s attempt to dismiss the lawsuit was denied by a judge as the studio struggled to provide evidence, having since “vaulted” the content, making it inaccessible.

Weeks before that lawsuit, Bungie investigated how a NERF gun modeled on Destiny 2’s Ace of Spades replicated nearly every detail of fanart from 2015, including every brushstroke and scratch.