An artist says Bungie used her 2017 designs in Marathon without credit, pointing to matching visuals, fonts, and layout elements found in the game.
Bungie is once again being accused of plagiarism after an artist discovered her original artwork, some of which dates back to 2017, seemingly used throughout Marathon’s in-game environments and promotional materials.
Independent artist ANTIREAL posted about the discovery on X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky on Friday (16 May). According to her post, the alpha’s environments “are covered with assets lifted from poster designs [she] made in 2017.”
In the post, ANTIREAL shared screenshots from the game and compared them side-by-side with some of her artwork. She highlighted examples of her original designs appearing in Marathon, including instances where her own logo was seemingly used in the game.
Side-by-side comparisons reveal striking similarities
Notably, one of the screenshots shared by ANTIREAL in her post included the same sequence of seven icons with identical designs to her artwork. The layout and framing were also strikingly similar.
Another comparison she shared in the same post showed that screenshot from the game used the name “ALEPH” and the tagline “Dark-space haulage logistics” in the same font style, alongside matching elements such as directional arrows and lines.
She added that the company wasn’t obligated to hire her, “but clearly my work was good enough to pillage for ideas and plaster all over their game without pay or attribution.” The artist noted that she “didn’t have the resources or energy to spare” to pursue the case legally and said that this wasn’t the first time this had happened to her.
“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,” she continued in the same thread.
ANTIREAL also confirmed, in response to one of the comments, that Bungie art director Joseph Cross has been following her account for years, but they “never had any communication.”
X user @solarphy said in reply that Cross had “also posted recently about working with an agency @KurppaHosk,” and that some of the designs posted resembled ANTIREAL’s work as well.
Bungie has faced similar plagiarism allegations over the years, including using fan-created artwork without proper attribution or permission. In 2021, Bungie incorporated a fan’s depiction of Xivu Arath from Destiny 2: The Witch Queen in a promotional trailer without prior consent, later apologizing and obtaining permission. Then in 2023, a Destiny 2: Season of the Deep cutscene featured artwork strikingly similar to fan artist Julian Faylona’s 2020 piece, which Bungie acknowledged as a vendor mistake and compensated accordingly.
More recently, in September 2024, Bungie was accused of copying fan artist Tofu Rabbit’s 2015 artwork for a Nerf blaster design based on the Destiny 2 Ace of Spades weapon, leading to an apology and compensation.
Additionally, in October 2024, sci-fi author Kelsey Martineau filed a lawsuit alleging Bungie plagiarised elements of their 2013 story for the Red War storyline in Destiny 2. Bungie filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in December of the same year, arguing that YouTube videos and fan-made wiki pages aren’t sufficient to assess copyright claims yet. However, the court denied Bungie's motion to dismiss earlier this month. The lawsuit is still ongoing.
Marathon is Bungie’s upcoming sci-fi extraction shooter set in the year 2893 on the abandoned colony of Tau Ceti IV. Players take on the role of cybernetic mercenaries known as Runners, who are post-human beings who compete in high-stakes missions to retrieve valuable artefacts and data from a hostile, ever-changing environment.
Featuring team-based PvPvE gameplay, players must navigate the dangers of both enemy teams and AI threats while racing to extract their loot before being eliminated. With seasonal updates that shape the evolving narrative and gameplay, Marathon combines Bungie’s signature world-building with a competitive, high-risk reward system that challenges players to survive, adapt, and dominate.
The game’s first closed alpha ran from 23 April through 4 May, and it is expected to release on 23 September of this year.
