Bungie, the developer behind Destiny 2, is once again facing allegations of plagiarism, this time related to their upcoming sci-fi shooter, Marathon. Artist Antireal has accused the studio of incorporating 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 claims they originally designed and posted online 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 pic.twitter.com/0Csbo48Jgb

— N² (@4nt1r34l) May 15, 2025

Antireal expressed frustration over the situation, stating, "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." The artist further lamented the difficulty of making a living from their work, highlighting the recurring issue of large companies using their designs without proper compensation.

In response, Bungie quickly launched an investigation and issued a statement acknowledging the issue. They attributed the unauthorized use of the artist's decals to a former Bungie artist and confirmed that the current art team was unaware of the situation. Bungie reached out to Antireal to address the issue and reiterated their commitment to respecting artists' 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 team stated. "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 [the artist] to discuss this issue and are committed to do right by the artist. As a matter of policy, we do not use the work of artists 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."

This incident is part of a pattern for Bungie, who faced a lawsuit in October after a writer claimed that the studio had stolen plot elements from his story for Destiny 2's 2017 storyline, The Red War. Bungie attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed, but a judge rejected their request as the studio struggled to provide evidence, having since removed the content from public access.

Additionally, just weeks before the lawsuit, Bungie investigated how a NERF gun based on Destiny 2's Ace of Spades was almost entirely copied from fanart designed in 2015, down to the smallest details.