Bungie Accused of Plagiarizing Yet Again: ‘Marathon’ Seemingly Lifts Assets From an Artist’s Original Work Without Their Knowledge

Bungie is, once again, in the plagiarism hot seat. On Thursday, independent artist ANTIREAL discovered her original artwork, some of which dates back to 2017, seemingly used throughout Marathon‘s in-game environments and promotional materials.

Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon, recently held a closed alpha testing phase. Using screenshots of in-game footage, the artist spotted many of her original assets plastered over the game’s environments. Through posts on X and BlueSky, ANTIREAL shows side-by-side comparisons of her artwork in Marathon, including instances of her own original logo in the game.

the Marathon alpha released recently and its environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs i made in 2017.@bungie.net @marathonthegame.bungie.net

— N² (@antire.al) 2025-05-15T18:11:31.947Z

Following its recent alpha test phase, Marathon‘s reception has been lukewarm. While many praise its signature Bungie-style gunplay, others find its gameplay loop lacking enough features to stand out amongst competitors like Escape From Tarkov. One aspect seemingly praised by many is Marathon‘s unique, glitchpunk aesthetic. A visual style ANTIREAL says is overwhelmingly similar to the artwork she’s been creating for the past 10 years.

Bungie’s ‘Marathon’ seemingly lifting artwork without creator’s permission

“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,” writes ANTIREAL.

According to ANTIREAL, Marathon art director Joseph Cross and several other representatives from Bungie have been following her account for years. In that time, there has been no communication between the two parties. Cross has previously responded to criticism regarding Marathon‘s art direction in the past.

This isn’t the first time Bungie, or a contractor working with them, would allegedly lift another creator’s work without permission. In 2023, artist ELEMENTJ21 noticed an uncanny representation of their work used in a cutscene for Destiny 2: Lightfall. Last year, a Destiny 2 weapon skin featured identical elements of artist Tofu_Rabbit’s original design from 2015. In both instances, Bungie would agree to pay the artists. As of now, no one representing Bungie has commented on ANTIREAL’s artwork in Marathon.

“In 10 years I have never made a consistent income from this work and I am tired of designers from huge companies moodboarding and parasitising my designs while I struggle to make a living,” writes ANTIREAL.

You can support ANTIREAL directly via Ko-Fi, commission work, or her Superstructure design services.