Bungie
Founded in 1990 by Alex Seropian, Bungie is a game development studio that has been known to develop games for their popular franchises, such as Marathon, Destiny, and initially Halo. Originally, the company exclusively developed for the Mac platform, but after being acquired by Microsoft, Bungie was seen developing instead for the Xbox platform (and 3rd parties such as Gearbox Software handling ports to Windows), until its departure shortly after Halo Reach's release. In January of 2022, the company was yet again bought out, this time by Sony Interactive Entertainment.[1]
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1990 |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Entertainment Software |
| Official website | https://Bungie.com |
Consumer-impact summary
Controversial Practices
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Bungie category.
Theft of artwork
Bungie, the developer behind Destiny and Halo, has dealt with multiple instances of artwork theft, primarily involving contractors or external artists improperly using copyrighted or stolen assets.
1. Destiny 2 Moon Asset Theft (2019)
A freelance artist hired by Bungie used stolen 3D assets from DOOM (2016) in Destiny 2’s Shadowkeep expansion.
2. Destiny 2 Witch Queen Art Theft (2022)
Another contractor allegedly used traced or stolen fan art for a Witch Queen promotional image.
3. Marathon (2017 - ongoing)
In May 2025, Bungie, the developer behind Destiny 2 and the upcoming extraction shooter Marathon, faced accusations of art theft after artist Fern Hook, known as Antireal, claimed that assets in Marathon’s closed alpha were directly lifted from her[3] 2017 poster designs without permission or credit.
Concerning legal agreements
Inside the Bungie "Limited Software License Agreement" (LSLA)[4] since at least August 17, 2021, there is binding arbitration, which takes effect the moment any user has run any Bungie software since the introduction of this term.
Additionally, Bungie can, and has taken advantage of a stipulation[5] within their forums which states:
"By using the form, you are submitting content to Bungie. When you submit content to Bungie, you agree to the Bungie Services Terms of Use, which also means you're promising us that you have the right to upload that content, that we can freely use it without condition, and that you agree that your submission follows our Code of Conduct."
A highlight from this agreement
"...which also means you're promising us that you have the right to upload that content..."
has been cited by consumers[5] as a reason why a piece of user-generated content[6] was used commercially within Destiny 2.[7]
Products
Software
References
- ↑ Dring, Christopher (January 31, 2022). "PlayStation: Bungie deal is about multiplatform, live-service games". Gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2025
- ↑ Savage, Phil (Aug 23, 2020). "Here's everything being removed from Destiny 2 at the end of this season—it's a lot". PC Gamer. Retrieved Mar 31, 2025.
- ↑ 4nt1r34l. https://x.com/4nt1r34l/status/1923067988871147605.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Bungie LSLA". Bungie. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 xXLjordSireXx (Jun 21, 2023). "Comment from xXLjordSireXx". Reddit. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
- ↑ Ikari, Shinji. "The Veil of Darkness". Bungie Forums. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
- ↑ Kinduhgood (Jun 20, 2023). "Bungie stole someone's art for the new cutscene. His art was made over 2 years ago". Reddit - r/Destiny2. Retrieved May 19, 2025.