Marathon’s credits include the artist whose work Bungie used without permission

Marathon sprinted out of the blocks yesterday, so naturally some folks have already seen its credits. One of people listed in those credits is an especially noteworthy inclusion, with Antireal (or 4nt1r34l) – an artist whose work Bungie were caught using in the shooter without permission – having been credited as a consultant on the game.

As shared by various social media posters, Fern ‘Antireal’ Hook is listed as having been a visual design consultant on Marathon. While it doesn’t confirm whether Hook was paid to do extra work on shaping the shooter’s art, it does line up with being part of the settlement or agreement she and Bungie reached over the nicked artwork. Hook tweeted last year that the issue over the use of her art had “been resolved with Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment to [her] satisfaction”.

Bungie, who’d had to compensate artists for using art without permission prior to the situation involving Marathon, said that a former artist at the studio including Hook’s work in a texture sheet was to blame on this occasion. “This issue was unknown by our existing art team, and we are still reviewing how this oversight occurred,” the company wrote at the time. “We take matters like this very seriously. We have reached out to 4nt1r34l to discuss this issue and are committed to do right by the artist.”

“We’re auditing all of the previous work by the internal artist, including the environment decals already in the build, which is part of why we’re delaying some of the content we’re going to show today,” then Marathon art director Joseph Cross added in a May 2025 livestream. “We’re committed to removing anything that is questionably or inappropriately sourced. We’re doing a very broad decal audit, and if we locate any other details or elements, we’ll make sure that those are eliminated/recreated in-house for sure.”

If you’ve been busy running a Marathon thus far, it’s well worth checkout out our slate of guides to its quests, as well as the best guns and upgrades. Edwin’s also done some words based on what he’s played of it thus far.