The atmosphere is worse than ever: the Marathon scandals have brought down morale at Bungie
Bungie's upcoming action shooter Marathon has hit a losing streak. According to a new report, the studio is experiencing one of the lowest levels of morale in its history. It all started with the demonstration of the closed alpha version of Marathon, which caused mostly mixed and negative reactions from the community. Instead of the expected excitement, players expressed concerns about the direction of the game, the "plastic" look and feel, and the overall feel.
Here's What We Know
But the situation only got worse when an artist under the nickname 4nt1r34l accused Bungie of stealing her 2017 artwork for use in Marathon. These claims quickly went viral online, sparking heated discussions on social media. Bungie publicly admitted the guilt, accusing the former artist of unauthorised use of the artwork and promising to rectify the situation. In addition, the art director of the Marathon franchise, Joseph Cross, personally apologised during the PlayMA broadcast, admitting: "There is absolutely no excuse for this oversight."
Now, thanks to a report by Paul Tassi of Forbes, new details have come to light. After talking to current and former Bungie employees, Tassi painted a rather grim picture of what is happening behind the scenes. According to the report, morale at Bungie is in "free fall" across all departments, with some employees claiming that "the atmosphere is as bad as it gets". Uncertainty about Marathon's future, combined with the ongoing plagiarism scrutiny and negative reception of the alpha, has left many worried about the studio's future.
Tassi's report also mentions that there has been no official talk of postponing Marathon's planned September release, at least not publicly or in front of the wider development team. However, sources say that such conversations may well be taking place privately between Sony and Bungie executives.
Source: Forbes
