Artist Antireal claimed yesterday that she found her art spread throughout the environment in Bungie’s recent Marathon alpha. With copious examples (and others online finding even more as people pour through alpha footage) as proof, Antireal’s posts on Bluesky began to blow up, with many calling out Bungie for what looked like apparent plagiarism. Less than 24 hours later, the Marathon Dev Team X account posted a thread confirming the “unauthorized use” of Antireal’s work.
“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 X post reads. “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 [Antireal] to discuss this issue and are committed to do right by the artist.”
The thread continues, “As a matter of policy, we do not use the work of artist 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.”
You can see Antireal’s first claim of art theft in the image below, a set of comparison pictures – the evidence is pretty damning. As more people find more examples of her art in Marathon, it’s looking more widespread than originally believed.
Sadly, Antireal is no stranger to this kind of art theft. “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,” she writes on Bluesky. “In 10 years, I have never made a consistent income from this work and I am tired of designers from huge companies moodboarding and parasiting my designs while I struggle to make a living.”
In an interview with The Washington Post, Antireal said, “I’d kind of had to learn to shut up about these cases because they’ve happened so constantly over the past 10 years. It was tiring to be viewed as ‘someone who complains’ more than as an artist. But the response this time has been overwhelmingly understanding and I’m extremely thankful for the support.”
That response is likely what prompted Bungie to finally step in, as the amount of evidence surfacing of Antireal’s art appearing in Marathon is undeniable. Some of Antireal’s art found in Marathon dates back as far as 2017, while others are more recent. Antireal also says that Marathon’s art director, Joseph Cross, has followed her on X for years (and a few others from Bungie) but that the two have never communicated.
Bungie claims the lifted art results from a former artist’s texture sheet. It is investigating how this stolen art slipped through the cracks – cracks that Cross is likely responsible for keeping an eye on, considering he’s Marathon’s art director.
This is not the first time Bungie has plagiarized an artist’s work. In 2023, it announced it was compensating and crediting an artist whose art was mistakenly used in a cutscene in Destiny 2, as reported by PC Gamer.
Marathon launches September 23 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. With so much of Antireal’s art currently in the game, it’s unclear how this will affect its release. Between needing to correct this situation and a lukewarm reception to the game’s recent Alpha, it wouldn’t be surprising if Bungie and publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment delayed Marathon to address these issues.
In the meantime, check out the first gameplay from Marathon.
