Destiny 2 Developers Promise a Compensation for Plagiarism as More Allegations Surface

It’s sufficient to say that not many fans were surprised to see an artist accuse Bungie of copying their work. Over the years, there have been many instances like this one. However, it’s encouraging to see the Destiny 2 developers publicly acknowledge possible plagiarism and offer fair compensation to the artist.

An Artist Will Get Compensation for Their Design

On September 11, a fan and an artist accused the Destiny 2 team of taking their design from 2015 and using it for the new Nerf Ace of Spades. While it took Bungie a couple of days to investigate the matter, they publicly addressed the allegations.

Several days later, they issued a statement on the official Destiny 2 Team account on X. It read: “We’ve investigated this with our partner NERF. We are currently in contact with the artist to make sure they are compensated and credited for their incredible artwork”.

Of course, having a company as big as Bungie admit to plagiarizing claims being true is of great importance. The players were overall pleased with the outcome. Still, many used this opportunity to urge Bungie to change their approach. One player noted: “I’m glad y’all are trying to make amends but this needs to stop. Either compensate said artists from the start or use in-house artwork”.

Destiny 2 Team Faces More Unfortunate Claims

Aside from getting some good publicity, Destiny 2 developers were yet again accused of plagiarism, with another claim added, not paying the promised compensation to another artist. Now, at the time of writing this article, these are just allegations and Bungie hasn’t addressed them yet.

Another artist stepped up and claimed that Bungie promised them compensation, but never delivered on that promise. Julian Faylona stated: “I’m the artist whose artwork was used for the Witness cutscene from last year. It’s been a year and I’m still waiting for that compensation that you said will be given. Haven’t heard a word since”.

Some players were quick to point out that this was just a minuscule part of the game, and that legally Bungie probably didn’t even have to offer the aforementioned compensation. However, (Vic) Visuals By VTC offered a counterargument. They said: “There’s a legal argument and a moral argument. There’s no way in any form the moral argument is in favor of the corporation”.

Fortunately for these artists, this at least opened a dialogue with Bungie and gave them a platform where they could publicly share their claims with a larger audience. Unfortunately for the Destiny 2 team, more artists are stepping up and asking for compensation for plagiarism. Hopefully, the artist will get full compensation for their hard work, and Bungie will change their policies. Destiny 2 has had a huge impact on many players’ lives, so it would be a shame to see its reputation tarnished.