Fern “Antireal” Hook, the artist who found her own designs and graphics in Bungie’s Marathon, has confirmed she has “resolved” the issue with the studio and its parent company Sony.
In a brief update posted to X/Twitter, Hook wrote: “The Marathon art issue has been resolved with Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment to my satisfaction.” She did not provide details of any settlement.
Destiny 2 developer Bungie found itself battling accusations of plagiarism back in May after Hook accused the studio of lifting aspects of her artwork for its upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon. In screenshots taken from Marathon’s alpha playtest accompanying the tweet, Hook alleged she could see distinct icons and graphics she designed, some of which were originally shared on social media years ago in 2017.
bungie is of course not obligated to hire me when making a game that draws overwhelmingly from the same design language i have refined for the last decade, but clearly my work was good enough to pillage for ideas and plaster all over their game without pay or attribution. pic.twitter.com/G3FbPtbPJD
— N² (@4nt1r34l) May 15, 2025
Shortly afterwards, Marathon game director Joe Ziegler and art director Joe Cross apologized on a painfully uncomfortable livestream that featured no Marathon art or footage at all, as the team was “still scrubbing all of our assets to make sure that we are being respectful of the situation.” The studio commenced an “immediate investigation,” eventually acknowledging that a “former Bungie artist” had indeed used Fern Hook’s work without compensation or credit.
And then, of course, Marathon was delayed into 2026 as Bungie worked to respond to feedback from playtests. Things went very quiet until Marathon reemerged in October, when Bungie announced the extraction shooter was ready for a limited, invite-only playtest for players in North America and Europe across PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and Steam.
The art issue continues to cast a shadow, though. Last month, the director of the Marathon reveal cinematic short expressed his disbelief that he felt forced to come out and defend the work as “not AI.”
Marathon has certainly endured a troubled development and has suffered multiple delays. The pressure is on for Marathon to succeed amid Destiny 2’s high-profile struggles. Earlier this month, parent company Sony said Bungie had failed to meet its sales and user engagement targets, resulting in a $200 million impairment charge.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
