Marathon Dev Bungie Under Fire for Repeated Plagiarism Incidents

Sony Interactive Entertainment developer Bungie is under fire for plagiarism once again — this time, in upcoming shooter Marathon. An artist took to X to complain that their work from 2017 was simply taken without credit, with some images even carrying their portfolio title “Antireal.”

Bungie admits Marathon art plagiarism, blames former employee

The artist, who goes as 4nt1r34l (Antireal), claims that several Bungie employees including Marathon’s lead developer have been following them on X for years, which hasn’t gone down well with players. X users jumped into action and uncovered some pretty blatant examples of Marathon using Antireal’s work, prompting Bungie to respond.

That response, however, has left players angrier. Using a Marathon dev team X account with significantly fewer followers than the game’s or Bungie’s official account, the studio admitted that the artist’s work was used without permission, but blamed a former employee for it.

Many accused Bungie of purposely using the dev team account to release its statement for lower visibility, especially since this isn’t the first time the company has been caught plagiarizing.

Back in September 2024, Bungie “resolved” a dispute with an artist whose design was used without permission for a physical Nerf LMTD blaster based upon Cayde-6’s hand cannon, Ace of Spades. Then, too, Bungie claimed to be “investigating” how the issue occurred with a “partner.”

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