Antireal, the artist at the heart of a plagiarism scandal involving Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter Marathon, has posted a statement on social media indicating the saga has come to a close.
Taking to Twitter, Antireal posted the following tweet: “The Marathon art issue has been resolved with Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment to my satisfaction.” There has been no follow-up by Antireal elaborating on the situation, nor has any statement been released on the official Marathon social media account.
This appears to be the end of Marathon’s plagiarism woes. Some, responding to Antireal’s statement, are speculating that it was made as part of a deal between Antireal and Bungie / Sony. However, this has not been verified.
For those unaware, Antireal first posted a lengthy breakdown of where their art appeared in Marathon’s first public Closed Beta back in May of this year. Following this, Bungie announced an investigation into the matter, eventually admitting that yes, Antireal’s art had been used during the development of Marathon. Following this controversy as well as the mixed reception to its initial beta, morale at Bungie was reportedly in freefall, though it is worth noting vast changes have been made to the game in the run up to its release in March, 2026.
Marathon’s cinematic short director also chipped in last month, stating in now-deleted social media posts that the plagiarism scandal was “blown out of proportion”. He also pushed back passionately against claims that AI was used in the creation of the frankly fantastic looking cinematic he directed.
