The developers behind Marathon and Destiny are at the centre of a plagiarism controversy, as fears grow for the studio’s future.
Between Halo and Destiny, Bungie were once one of the most successful and respected developers in the world, but the studio’s fortunes have very much soured in recent years.
After the developer was acquired by Sony in 2022, the team has been subject to several rounds of layoffs, most recently in July last year. The team is set to release its next shooter, Marathon, in September, but events over the past week have now cast a dark cloud over its future.
Last week, Scottish artist Fern Hook, who posts as 4nt1r34I (pronounced ‘Antireel’) on social media, accused Bungie of taking assets from her previous work and using them in the game’s alpha without her permission.
Bungie later admitted these claims were accurate, but attributed the blame to an unnamed ex-artist at the studio who included the assets in a ‘texture sheet’ in 2020. A statement on X read: ‘This issue was unknown by our existing art team, and we are still reviewing how this oversight occurred.’
They added: ‘We take matters like this very seriously. We have reached out to 4nt1r34I 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.’
Following this incident, a new report claims studio morale at Bungie is at an all-time low, as concerns mount around how it could impact Marathon’s launch.
According to Forbes, which spoke to current and former employees at Bungie, morale at the studio is in ‘free fall’ across all departments due to the plagiarism issue. ‘The vibes have never been worse,’ one developer said.
The report claims ‘everyone has the same concerns about what happens to Bungie as a studio if Marathon bombs’, something the developer ‘absolutely cannot afford’.
While it’s claimed there are ‘not even hints or jokes about a delay’ internally, the report speculates these conversations are ‘likely’ happening privately among the studio leadership, to avoid launching the game in what one source described as a ‘now actively hostile environment’.
Even prior to the plagiarism debacle, mixed reactions to the Marathon alpha reportedly led to adjustments to the game’s roll out. It’s claimed a new trailer was originally going to launch in June, to announce pre-orders, but this has since been pulled. A planned public beta in August, meanwhile, will now allegedly be changed into a ‘roadmap of public playtests’.
All of these adjustments, combined with the mixed reception and alleged internal strife at the studio, suggests a delay to Marathon is looking likely – especially as we’re only four months away from its September launch.
GameCentral has reached out to Bungie for comment.
Prior to this new report, Bungie addressed the artwork fiasco in an awkward Twitch stream on Friday, which didn’t feature any Marathon gameplay due to the ongoing investigation.
During the stream, Marathon’s art director Joseph Cross claimed Bungie was in the process of ‘auditing all of the previous work by the internal artist’ and is looking to remove ‘anything which is questionably or inappropriately sourced’.
Cross went onto apologise to the artist in question, adding: ‘Lastly, personally I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for artists working independently, producing, making a living, doing commercial or fine art. We’ve worked with many of them. It’s one of my favourite parts of the job, to make those connections, create content, and collaborate.
‘So to that extent, I want to send my personal apology to 4nt1r34I, whose work was used in this case. I know how unfair this feels, and we’re doing everything we can to make this right with her. Her work is fantastic, and we clearly share a mutual appreciation for a specific genre of graphic design, and I’m excited to have folded that into our style in general.’
Marathon is set to launch across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC on September 23. Bungie has described it as a ‘premium’ title, but no specific price has been announced.
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