An artist accused Bungie of plagiarism — the studio stated that a former employee was to blame
Bungie studio has once again faced accusations of plagiarism. This time, it was brought forward by Scottish artist Fern Hook, who discovered that the developers used elements from her works in the extraction shooter Marathon.
Marathon
According to the artist, the appearance of some assets in the game's alpha is very reminiscent of the design of her posters created back in 2017. Certain texts and patterns almost exactly match.
Hook added that several Bungie employees have been following her on social media for years. Among them is Joseph Cross, the art director of Marathon. However, they never contacted her nor asked for permission to use her designs.
“I don't have the money or energy to file a lawsuit. I've lost count of how many times a big company thought it easier to pay a designer for plagiarism or theft of my work than to send me a letter,” Hook complained.
Examples of plagiarism in Marathon highlighted by the artist
Bungie has responded to the accusation. It acknowledged that the artist's creations were indeed used in Marathon — they were added by an employee who no longer works at the studio. Bungie is currently investigating to find out how this happened. They also plan to tighten documentation process requirements.
Bungie emphasized that it values the efforts of all artists contributing to its games and strives to "treat them right."
Recall, Bungie has been accused of plagiarism by artists at least twice before. In 2023, it was accused of including fan art in a cutscene in Destiny 2, and a year later, of stealing a weapon design. Additionally, since the fall of 2024, Bungie has been in legal proceedings with writer Kelsey Martineau, who claims the studio copied a storyline he created for Destiny 2's campaign.