What just happened? Bungie announced a reboot of the classic first-person shooter Marathon in 2023. It formally unveiled project footage just a few weeks ago. The multiplayer extraction shooter has already drawn criticism after someone spotted issues with some of the artwork used by the Sony-owned developer.
Bungie is under fire for allegedly using stolen art assets in its extraction shooter Marathon. Independent artist Antireal caught the Washington-based studio “recycling” some of her designs, and Bungie is now downplaying the incident by shifting blame to former employees. The controversy has sparked broader conversations in the gaming community about creative ethics and the responsibility of major studios to respect independent artists’ work.
Antireal recently called out the studio on X, claiming the Marathon alpha build includes assets lifted from poster designs she created in 2017. She said someone at Bungie “drew overwhelmingly” from art pieces she had been refining for over a decade. Bungie presumably found her designs compelling enough to “inspire” the game but offered her no credit or compensation.
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
Antireal said she doesn’t intend to pursue legal action against Bungie, even though this isn’t the first time a “major company” has copied or used her work without permission.
“In 10 years, I have never made a consistent income from this work, and I’m tired of designers from huge companies moodboarding and parasitizing my designs while I struggle to make a living,” she wrote.
Within hours of Antireal’s tweets going viral, the Marathon development team investigated the alleged unauthorized use of her decals. Subsequently, Bungie issued a s statement claiming a “former” artist included the assets in a texture sheet later used in the game.
Bungie did not publicly reveal the former developer’s identity but noted that Marathon’s current team was unaware of the potential copyright violation. The studio says it takes these matters “very seriously” and has already contacted Antireal to resolve the issue and provide compensation, which is the right thing to do.
Bungie’s official employee policies forbid using external assets without permission. To prevent future issues, the Marathon team is now carefully reviewing all in-game assets – especially those created by the unidentified former artist. The studio will also enforce stricter checks to document all contributing artists in the future.
