Marathon "Art Theft" explained

Summary

Bungie meets the backlash with an art theft controversy around the upcoming gaming marathon.
Artist Antireal accuses Bungie of art theft in marathon after seeing identical copies of his work in the game's environment.
Bungie's reputation risks with allegations of art theft, lack of preventive systems and potential delay in marathon.

It has been a few months for Bungie since after the launch of Destiny 2S the final form expansion, with layoffs happening the company, several controversy regarding the permission of the looter-shooter, and now problems with Marathon Before its currently planned release on September 23. Marathon In itself has crossed several phases, where it is reportedly being worked on as a hero shooter at some point, while it is now a focused PVPVE extraction shooter with adaptable characters and charges. The conversations around the game have mostly been mixed, with a tendency to negative and the latest theft accounts around MarathonS Style and Artist 4NT1R34L (Antireal) do not help them on the fence.

Antireal recently took to Twitter to express concern and frustration to see their work, go back all the way to 2017, everywhere Marathon Alpha test. The artist used the platform to show his graphic design work and how it was found everywhere in MarathonThe world is lifted many times directly from anti -toal posters – line by line, words by words. Bungie has since acknowledged this issue both on social media and in a live stream, but the parties concerned have not yet reached a resolution.

Marathon alpha player wants to see the game delayed

Family

Marathon alpha player wants the game to be delayed

Players who participate in Bungie's Alpha for the coming first person's shooting marathon request that the developer delay the release.

How Marathon ended with “stolen” art in its environment

Antireal shared images of her posters including the same “aleph” writing, fonts and art style used in the game, as well as several other examples of art being lifted by bungie and included in Marathon 1: 1. On social media, Bungie released a statement on art theft that says an internal investigation had been conducted, and it seemed as if a former employee left several decals that included anti -north art in a texture plate which then made it MarathonThe sci-fi world.

The counter -argument used is that Antireal's art style is not something she invented, and while games like Wipeout or the Graphic Design Studio Designers Republic parts similar direction and elements, there are many parts of Antireal's work directly in Marathon's environment.

Bungie's statement about art theft in marathons and reactions explained

Bungie then stated that the studio was enough for Antireal and wants to do the right thing about her, and that the art team was not aware that her art was used without permission. The statement did not fit well with several fans of the game and Bungie as a developer for some important reasons. One is that the statement was released less than 12 hours after Antireal's mail, which makes it more of a PR stunt than the result of a thorough investigation. Another is that this is the fourth time Bungie has been publicly accused of plagiarism in recent years.

The first happened in 2021 with fank art by Xivu Arath used without permission in Destiny 2. The second time was 2023, when fank art was used in a Destiny 2 Cutscene. The third time occurred in 2024 with Destiny 2S Ace of Spades Nerf Gun's design is lifted from a fan, with the copy showing identical designs. As such, antirereal shows proof that Marathon Used her art without permission is quite problematic for Bungie's credibility and shows that the company needs a preventive system in place for the future.

Finally, but no less important, several Twitter users noted that several Marathon And Bungie developers follow Antireal on the platform, including the game's art director, Joseph Cross. As such, many are doubtful that the whole can really be attached to a single former employee. Whether this is really the case remains to be seen, and the same goes for the type of resolution bungie and Antireal will find, if anyone. MarathonThe release date is growing ever closer, but there is a chance that the controversy will force Bungie to delay the extraction shooter until later this year or 2026.