Bungie Reviews Uncredited Artwork Policy

Destiny 2 developer Bungie faces renewed plagiarism allegations as another artist claims the studio incorporated elements of their work into the upcoming sci-fi shooter Marathon without permission.

Following previous accusations from multiple artists and a writer, visual artist Antireal asserted that Marathon's alpha build environment contains unauthorized reproductions of their icon designs - including graphics originally published on social media back in 2017.

The Marathon alpha released recently and its environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs I made in 2017.

@Bungie @josephacross

In a statement shared on social media, Antireal expressed frustration: "While Bungie wasn't obligated to hire me for a game clearly influenced by my decade-long visual style, they deemed my work worthy enough to appropriate extensively without compensation or attribution."

"I lack the resources for legal action, but this marks yet another instance where major corporations find it simpler to replicate my work than to contact me," the artist continued. "After ten years struggling to earn sustainable income from my designs, seeing well-funded teams systematically repurpose my creations remains exhausting."

Bungie responded promptly with an official statement acknowledging the controversy:

"We've confirmed unauthorized inclusion of artist decals via texture sheets created by a former team member," the statement reads. "Our current art team was unaware of this issue, and we're examining how this oversight occurred."

The studio emphasized its commitment to rectifying the situation: "We've contacted the affected artist and are implementing stricter documentation protocols for all creative contributions to prevent recurrence. We deeply value artistic integrity and will address this appropriately."

This incident follows previous intellectual property controversies involving Bungie. Last October, a writer filed suit alleging Destiny 2's 2017 Red War expansion improperly adapted his narrative concepts - a case that remains active after Bungie's dismissal request was denied, despite the company having removed the contested content from public access.

Additionally, weeks prior to that lawsuit, Bungie investigated claims that an officially licensed NERF replica of Destiny 2's Ace of Spades hand cannon copied fanart from 2015 down to minute detailing including weathering marks and surface textures.