Bungie’s Marathon has been turning heads with its unique presentation. The game, a sci-fi extraction shooter, manages to blend dark, desolate settings with vibrant colors, giving off vibes that are a mix between a sneaker commercial and Ghost in the Shell. Designer Jeremy Skoog even described it as “Y2K Cyberpunk mixed with Acid Graphic Design Posters.” However, it seems that some of the visual elements seen in the recent alpha test may have been borrowed from the work of an outside artist from eight years ago.
The allegations came to light when a user named antire.al took to the Bluesky forums to claim that assets in Marathon were eerily similar to designs she had created back in 2017. She provided side-by-side comparisons showing striking resemblances between her work and elements in the game, including a rotated version of her logo. The user expressed frustration at the lack of compensation or credit for her designs, stating that major companies often resort to imitating or outright stealing without reaching out to the original creators.
There are a few possible explanations for how this could have happened. It’s plausible that the art was initially used as temporary assets that were intended to be replaced but got overlooked during development. However, a less generous interpretation suggests that someone within Bungie or its affiliated agencies knowingly appropriated the work without acknowledgment or payment. Bungie has yet to provide a formal response to these allegations, leaving fans and critics alike questioning the studio’s integrity in handling artistic contributions.
