Bungie admitted that they have yet again stolen artwork from someone. Earlier this week, an artist that first published their work back in 2017 shared how Bungie very clearly used several pieces of their art in current builds of Marathon, their upcoming extraction shooter.
The artist at the heart of this is Fern Hook, an independent artist in Scotland. Hook, better known by their online moniker of ANTIREAL, posted several comparisons of her work alongside current art assets in Bungie's Marathon. While a couple of the comparisons could be considered to be merely "heavily inspired," most look to be exact rips of ANTIREAL's artwork.
The stolen art in Marathon isn't just limited to designs. ANTIREAL's images, exact wording, symbols, her own personal logo, and even a "Loss" easter egg were all found throughout Marathon.
the Marathon alpha released recently and its environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs i made in 2017.
— N² (@a ntire.al) May 15, 2025 at 2:11 PM
@bungie.net @marathonthegame.bungie.net
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4/ @Bungie should educate @josephacross : When you are stealing someone's posters, make sure you erase @4nt1r34l name from the texture.
— BILLAIN (@b illain.bsky.social) May 15, 2025 at 4:56 PM
(Left: an asset spread-out trough the game on various elements. Right: Poster named "Antireal daily series" from Antireal. 2017-2018
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Through their socials, Bungie claims that "a former Bungie artist included these in a texture sheet" that was then used in live builds of Marathon.
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.
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 @4nt1r34l 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.
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 @4nt1r34l 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.
This is now at least the fourth confirmed case where Bungie was found to be using assets that stolen from others. In 2023, Bungie used Destiny 2 fan art that was created three years before it appeared in an in-game cinematic without permission. This was blamed on an "external vendor" that thought it was official Bungie art.
In 2024, another fan's artwork was used on an official Destiny 2 Nerf gun collectible. It was never specified if the fault for this one was with Bungie or with Hasbro. In 2021, artwork from user Relay314 had their fan art of Xivu Arath used in a trailer for Destiny 2: The Witch Queen without prior permission.
Bungie offered some measure of compensation for each of these incidents. Bungie resolved these prior issues with a mix of publicly crediting the artist, an apology, and sometimes some undisclosed amount of monetary compensation.
These past incidents were always blamed on third-party contractors. The use of ANTIREAL's artwork is the first time that Bungie admits the theft happened from one of their in-house employees, former or otherwise depending on what you would like to believe.
At the time of writing, there is no word yet on how Bungie will right this wrong with ANTIREAL.
