Artist Who Said Bungie's Marathon Had Assets 'Lifted' From Poster Designs She Made in 2017 Confirms 'The Issue Has Been Resolved'

Fern "Antireal" Hook, the artist who discovered her own designs and graphics in Bungie's Marathon, has confirmed she has "resolved" the matter 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 disclose specifics of any resolution.

Destiny 2 developer Bungie found itself facing plagiarism allegations in May after Hook accused the studio of using elements of her artwork for its upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon. In screenshots from Marathon’s alpha playtest shared with her tweet, Hook claimed to recognize distinct icons and graphics she had created, some originally posted on social media back 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 after, Marathon game director Joe Ziegler and art director Joe Cross apologized during a painfully awkward livestream that showed no Marathon art or footage whatsoever, as the team was "still scrubbing all of our assets to make sure that we are being respectful of the situation." The studio launched an "immediate investigation," later confirming that a "former Bungie artist" had indeed used Fern Hook’s work without payment or credit.

And then, of course, Marathon was postponed to 2026 as Bungie addressed feedback from playtests. Things grew quiet until Marathon reappeared in October, when Bungie announced the extraction shooter was ready for a limited, invite-only playtest in North America and Europe across PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and Steam.

The art controversy continues to cast a long shadow. Last month, the director of Marathon’s reveal cinematic short expressed surprise that he felt compelled to publicly defend the work as "not AI."

Marathon has certainly endured a turbulent development cycle and multiple delays. Pressure is mounting for Marathon to succeed amid Destiny 2’s high-profile challenges. Earlier this month, parent company Sony revealed that Bungie had failed to meet its sales and user engagement goals, resulting in a $200 million impairment charge.