Visual artist says Bungie's Marathon plagiarizes her original work, developer responds

Marathon’s first-ever playtest just wrapped up, but it didn’t seem to land as positively as Bungie had hoped. Now, the upcoming shooter is facing even more heat. A typographic visual artist, ANTIREAL shared a post on her @4nt1r34l X account, stating that the developer has plagiarized multiple designs directly from their previous works, dating back to 2017. She explained that the game uses visual elements that match her personal art style and specific assets too closely to be a coincidence.

Here’s everything you need to know about the controversy.

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Visual artist calls out Bungie for reusing her design elements in Marathon

On May 15, 2025, ANTIREAL wrote on X that assets used across Marathon’s environment look identical to artworks she had created years ago. The post even has multiple comparison images attached.

One of the most striking examples was a small typographic element with the heading “ALEPH” printed in Marathon's in-game environments. According to the artist, the word was displayed in the same typeface, layout, and positioning as in one of her old posters.

Another instance involved a square graphic containing seven abstract icons in the Marathon alpha testing footage HUD, arranged in the exact same order as ANTIREAL’s design.

Moreover, another in-game element was spotted featuring two thick vector arrows, a rectangle, and the number 28, all seemingly matching the artist's work almost identically.

ANTIREAL also pointed out similarities between the game's official press kit and one of her older poster designs. She argued that the stylistic choices and visual language were clearly influenced by her decade-long designs.

In the same post thread, ANTIREAL expressed frustration that, despite all this, Bungie has never reached out to her. She added that she is too exhausted and does not have enough resources to pursue legal action for now.

Additionally, ANTIREAL stated that Joseph Cross, the title's art director, and other Bungie employees follow her on X.

This situation has resulted in major backlash against Bungie. Meanwhile, ANTIREAL's X post has received massive support, crossing over two million views in less than eight hours.

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Bungie responds to ANTIREAL

Bungie has responded to ANTIREAL, confirming that a former artist had added the contested designs without the current team's knowledge. The developer said the issue is being taken seriously and that it has reached out to the artist to address it directly.

Bungie is now reviewing all assets created by the former artists and plans to implement better security measures.

It remains unclear whether this controversy would impact Marathon's release on September 23, 2025.

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