- Bungie has admitted to plagiarizing the work of a third-party artist for Marathon, blaming an ex-employee.
- The art-theft accusations have been grave for the studio's image, causing Bungie's morale to be in "free-fall."
- The studio has halted a planned marketing push for Marathon and is reconsidering the previously announced Public Beta scheduled for August.
Bungie has been mired in uncertainty and controversy for several months now, but the latest bit of turbulence looks to have put the studio in dire straits. It all came to head a few days ago following an X post (formerly Twitter) by an artist named ‘ANTIREAL.” The artist accused Bungie of plagiarizing her work from 2017 for their upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon. She provided conclusive evidence to support the claims, causing morale at Bungie to reportedly hit an all-time low.
The art-theft accusations were picked up by mainstream media and streamers shortly after they surfaced. The original post from ANTIREAL, which contained side-by-side comparisons of her original art and similar-looking assets from the Marathon playtest, currently sits at 64,000 likes and 11,000 reposts. In response, Bungie admitted to stealing her work, pinning the blame solely on an ex-employee. As for conciliatory measures, the studio stated that they’ve contacted the artist, and the dev team also hosted a live Q&A that is best described as ‘tense.’
Discussions surrounding plagiarism, something which the studio has previously been accused of on three separate occasions, will certainly have ramifications for Marathon. The game was already struggling to strike a chord with players, and the task now appears virtually impossible. As for matters within the studio, a Forbes report from Paul Tassi has outlined some distressing developments.
For starters, morale among its staffers is said to be in “free-fall” across all departments, made worse by palpable concerns about the fate of the studio if Marathon fails to hit the ground running. The extraction shooter could also be headed for a delay, with the devs unwilling to release it in an “actively hostile environment.”Furthermore, the game’s marketing plans have been halted and will be reworked after scrubbing the footage of any signs of plagiarism.
The previously announced Pubic Beta will likely see alterations, with the report suggesting that Bungie might pivot to a “roadmap of public playtests” instead. To summarize, plans around Marathon, including its playtests and marketing, appear to have gone awry, as Bungie attempts to regroup and build faith in the studio’s image. Suffice it to say, a lot is riding on Marathon, and the studio simply cannot afford a Concord-esque misadventure.
Do you think Marathon will be able to shake off all the negativity, or is it doomed to fail? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
