BungieThe developers behind flagship Xbox franchise Halo has admitted to utilising a Scottish artist’s work without permission.
Bungie, which was acquired by Sony in July 2022, was called out by digital artist 4nt1r34l on X after the company used a number of assets from posters she designed in 2017 for its new first-person shooter, Marathon.
The artist stated the in-game environments were “covered” in her work without being paid or credited.
X4nt1r34l wrote: “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.”
The Marathon development team confirmed an investigation took place and admitted the decals were unknowingly used by the existing art team.
The developers say they have reached out to the Scottish artist and take matters like this “very seriously”.
Their statement read: “As a matter of policy, we do not use the work of artists without their permission.
X“To prevent similar issues in the future, we are conducting a thorough review of our in-game assets, specifically those done by the former Bungie artist, and implementing stricter checks to document all artist contributions.
“We value the creativity and dedication of all artists who contribute to our games, and we are committed to doing right by them. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
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