Bungie has been accused but once more of plagiarizing artwork, this time for its upcoming extraction shooter Marathon. The artist making these claims – 4nt1r34l – posted comparisons between their very own futuristic works with belongings discovered throughout the Marathon Alpha and official artwork launched by the studio, highlighting simularities.
This all kicked up late final night, as 4nt1r34l took to social media to current the world with a set of side-by-side comparisons between authentic artwork they’ve revamped the the years to each screenshots from the sport and official Marathon materials (from the web site and press kits). These embrace examples the place the textual content “ALEPH Darkish Area Hauling Logistics”, featured prominantly on a bit of her prior work, might be discovered partially or in its entirety on belongings within the latest alpha.
Following this put up, 4nt1r34l elaborated to say that franchise artwork director for Marathon Joseph Cross had adopted them for years, however that there had been no communication between them and Cross (or Bungie in any respect). In response to this, the official Marathon Dev Staff social media account put out a prolonged assertion confirming “a former Bungie artist” did in truth use 4nt1r34l’s artwork in a texture sheet used in-game.
“We instantly investigated a priority concerning unauthorized use of artist decals in Marathon and confirmed {that a} former Bungie artist included these in a texture sheet that was in the end used in-game,” the assertion reads, “This difficulty was unknown by our present artwork crew, and we’re nonetheless reviewing how this oversight occurred. We take issues like this very significantly. We’ve got reached out to @4nt1r34l to debate this difficulty and are dedicated to do proper by the artist.”
It continues, “As a matter of coverage, we don’t use the work of artists with out their permission. To forestall related points sooner or later, we’re conducting a radical assessment of our in-game belongings, particularly these performed by the previous Bungie artist, and implementing stricter checks to doc all artist contributions. We worth the creativity and dedication of all artists who contribute to our video games, and we’re dedicated to doing proper by them. Thanks for bringing this to our consideration.”
That is the third time in three years that Bungie has allgedly been caught with its pants down in regard to the unathorized use of exterior artwork. Again in 2023, an artist compared their own fan art to art used in a Destiny 2 Lightfall cutscene. Later, in 2024, Bungie was caught utilizing work an artist’s fee work for an in-game armanent for the unique gun Ace of Spades. Each instances, the studio apologised, and paid the artists. However you have to surprise at this level, how does this seemingly occur thrice in three years? What, if any, guardrails does Bungie have to forestall this if it is taking place this typically, throughout totally different groups?
Whereas Bungie has owned as much as the error, there isn’t any phrase on whether or not or not 4nt1r34l will get the credit score (or dare I say, fee) they deserve, particularly given how far reaching the – let’s name it inventive inspiration – goes with Marathon.
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