So, like, there’s some drama going on at Bungie, the studio behind Marathon, and it’s not looking too good. Apparently, they used some art without permission from an external artist, and now the vibes over there are worse than ever. Imagine working in an environment where morale is in “free fall” – sounds like a blast, right?
The whole mess started when this artist, Fern Hook, saw their designs being used in the upcoming game Marathon without their say-so. Bungie had to come clean and admit that one of their ex-employees swiped the designs. Awkward much? And to make matters worse, during a livestream, they announced they wouldn’t be showing any gameplay because of the ongoing investigation. Talk about a PR nightmare!
The art director, Joe Cross, read a statement saying they were “scrubbing all of our assets” to make sure they weren’t disrespecting anyone else’s work. It’s a real mess over there, with the team now frantically trying to fix things before the game’s release date in September. Some insiders even say that developers have been unhappy with the way things have been going for years, with management ignoring their input. Yikes. Let’s hope Bungie can turn things around before it’s game over for Marathon.