This week, Bungie found itself in hot water again after another instance of the studio stealing art. Bungie was quick to admit that stolen art did appear in the Marathon alpha build but the studio may have bigger problems on its hands.
Paul Tassi, a well-known Destiny reporter, has heard that morale amongst Bungie employees is at an all-time low after this week’s events. Development on Marathon has hit a roadblock, as Bungie and Sony legal teams now need to review all assets in the game to ensure any stolen art is removed and replaced.
Right now, it is unclear how long this review of assets will take, but there is some internal discussion of a delay. Marathon was planned to release in September but now with so much negativity surrounding the game, launching that early could be a mistake. However, there is also concern internally about what will happen to the studio if Marathon is not a success. There is a sense that this is a make or break moment for Bungie.
While Marathon did just recently have a publicly playable alpha, Bungie was unable to show any new gameplay during its dev stream this week, due to the stolen art fiasco. With that in mind, plans to even showcase more of the game are likely to be impacted.
If Marathon does flop, it is likely that Sony will begin to take full control of Bungie. Considering what has happened at the studio under current leadership, a change at the top might be for the best.
KitGuru Says: Did you play the Marathon alpha at all? Are you looking forward to the game and would a delay impact that?
