Destiny 2 developer Bungie is facing fresh accusations of plagiarism, this time related to its upcoming sci-fi shooter, Marathon. An artist named Antireal has claimed that Bungie incorporated elements from their artwork into the game's environments without permission or credit. Screenshots from Marathon's alpha playtest, shared on social media, show icons and graphics that Antireal alleges were originally posted online 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
In a statement on X/Twitter, Antireal expressed frustration over the unauthorized use of their work, highlighting the difficulty of making a living as an independent artist while major companies exploit their designs. "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," they stated.
Bungie responded swiftly, launching an investigation and attributing the issue to a former employee. "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 studio said in a statement. They emphasized that the current art team was unaware of the issue and committed to rectifying the situation with the affected artist.
Bungie also outlined plans to review in-game assets and implement stricter checks to document artist contributions to prevent future incidents. "We take matters like this very seriously... We value the creativity and dedication of all artists who contribute to our games, and we are committed to doing right by them," the statement concluded.
This is not the first time Bungie has been accused of intellectual property theft. In October, the studio faced a lawsuit from a writer who claimed the studio stole plot elements from his story for Destiny 2's 2017 storyline, The Red War. Despite Bungie's attempt to dismiss the lawsuit, a judge denied the request, and the studio has since "vaulted" the content, making it no longer playable. Additionally, just weeks before the lawsuit, Bungie investigated how a NERF gun based on Destiny 2's Ace of Spades was nearly identical to fanart from 2015.
