Bungie got caught plagiarizing art yet again, this time in Marathon. Something’s got to give
As if the conversation surrounding Bungie's Marathon wasn't lukewarm enough, the latest chapter in the Destiny maker's upcoming extraction shooter saga has gotten uglier than ever. Yesterday, an artist by the name of ANTIREAL posted a bombshell of plagiarism accusations against the studio, claiming the recent Marathon alpha test's "environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs" that they made in 2017. Later that night, Bungie confirmed the news, and that's the least surprising part about all of this. https://twitter.com/4nt1r34l/status/1923067988871147605 "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," Bungie said in a statement last night. "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." ANTIREAL told the Washington Post they felt suspicious about the game's style for a while. But when direct copies of their art were found in the alpha test recently, they were finally able to speak out about it. "It was kind of vindicating to see direct plagiarism because it meant I wasn’t crazy for feeling so uncomfortable with the overall direction," ANTIREAL said. "I kept quiet about it because I was advised to seek legal action, but … I don't have enough time or money to fly out to the U.S. to pursue an unwinnable court case against Sony." This is not the first time Bungie has had issues with plagiarized art. It's not the second time, either. Or the third. And so, a pattern has formed, and questions really need to be asked. The studio's words feel very light considering that the studio has had problems like this before, including using fan art in a trailer for Destiny 2: The Witch Queen without permission, and using fanart in a Destiny 2 cutscene in 2023 without permission. A partnership with NERF also copied a design made by a fan in 2024. These all have not been issues of not properly crediting an artist or things happening by mistake. They seem to be deliberate cases of plagiarism that the studio then apologizes for and attempts to make things right by compensating the artist in some way, and only after distancing itself from a guilty party that used to work there. But why does it keep happening? And how? "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," Bungie said. "We value the creativity and dedication of all artists who contribute to our games, and we are committed to doing right by them." Mistakes happen, accidents happen, and video games are big productions that employ lots of designers, contractors, and outside work. But when this same sort of problem keeps popping up, the blame can't just be laid on a "former" artist who's no longer with the company. Image via Bungie One of the most uncomfortable factors about this case is that Marathon's reception has been tepid, to say the least. One positive, however, that most have agreed on is that the game's art style is refreshing and unique. And now, even that is in question. Whether the studio is being sloppy with its work or their artists are straight up copying other work, something has to change, because it's an awful look for the studio that was purchased by PlayStation for $3.6 billion in 2022. Marathon is currently set to launch on Sept. 23, and game director Joseph Ziegler is scheduled host an AMA later today regarding the game's alpha. It's hard to imagine this current predicament not being addressed during the live stream. Update on May 16 at 3:36pm CT: Marathon art director Joe Cross acknowledged the situation at the start of the stream this afternoon, saying there "was absolutely no excuse for this oversight," and Bungie is working to prevent it from happening again. The post Bungie got caught plagiarizing art yet again, this time in Marathon. Something’s got to give appeared first on Destructoid.
As if the conversation surrounding Bungie's Marathon wasn't lukewarm enough, the latest chapter in the Destiny maker's upcoming extraction shooter saga has gotten uglier than ever.
Yesterday, an artist by the name of ANTIREAL posted a bombshell of plagiarism accusations against the studio, claiming the recent Marathon alpha test's "environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs" that they made in 2017. Later that night, Bungie confirmed the news, and that's the least surprising part about all of this.
"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," Bungie said in a statement last night. "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."
ANTIREAL told the Washington Post they felt suspicious about the game's style for a while. But when direct copies of their art were found in the alpha test recently, they were finally able to speak out about it.
"It was kind of vindicating to see direct plagiarism because it meant I wasn’t crazy for feeling so uncomfortable with the overall direction," ANTIREAL said. "I kept quiet about it because I was advised to seek legal action, but … I don't have enough time or money to fly out to the U.S. to pursue an unwinnable court case against Sony."
This is not the first time Bungie has had issues with plagiarized art. It's not the second time, either. Or the third. And so, a pattern has formed, and questions really need to be asked.
The studio's words feel very light considering that the studio has had problems like this before, including using fan art in a trailer for Destiny 2: The Witch Queen without permission, and using fanart in a Destiny 2 cutscene in 2023 without permission. A partnership with NERF also copied a design made by a fan in 2024.
These all have not been issues of not properly crediting an artist or things happening by mistake. They seem to be deliberate cases of plagiarism that the studio then apologizes for and attempts to make things right by compensating the artist in some way, and only after distancing itself from a guilty party that used to work there. But why does it keep happening? And how?
"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," Bungie said. "We value the creativity and dedication of all artists who contribute to our games, and we are committed to doing right by them."
Mistakes happen, accidents happen, and video games are big productions that employ lots of designers, contractors, and outside work. But when this same sort of problem keeps popping up, the blame can't just be laid on a "former" artist who's no longer with the company.
One of the most uncomfortable factors about this case is that Marathon's reception has been tepid, to say the least. One positive, however, that most have agreed on is that the game's art style is refreshing and unique. And now, even that is in question.
Whether the studio is being sloppy with its work or their artists are straight up copying other work, something has to change, because it's an awful look for the studio that was purchased by PlayStation for $3.6 billion in 2022.
Marathon is currently set to launch on Sept. 23, and game director Joseph Ziegler is scheduled host an AMA later today regarding the game's alpha. It's hard to imagine this current predicament not being addressed during the live stream.
Update on May 16 at 3:36pm CT: Marathon art director Joe Cross acknowledged the situation at the start of the stream this afternoon, saying there "was absolutely no excuse for this oversight," and Bungie is working to prevent it from happening again.
The post Bungie got caught plagiarizing art yet again, this time in Marathon. Something’s got to give appeared first on Destructoid.
