Former Destiny artist and Marathon art director leaves Bungie following fallout from its now-resolved controversy

A squad of runners huddle together against a clinically stark white background, their gear dotted with color - in the Marathon key art.

Marathon art director Joseph Cross is departing developer Bungie just months before the extraction shooter launches in March 2026.

Cross announced his leaving via his LinkedIn page and social media channels, though there's no bad blood in the exit. "I'm incredibly proud of the visual world we built for Marathon," he wrote on Twitter. "Getting support at this scale for something a bit different is rare, and the art team at Bungie is the best in the biz. I'll be enjoying playing the game as a fan with all of you. Massive thank you to everyone who has supported through all of it."

The Marathon lead and former Destiny concept artist also told Kotaku it was his own decision to leave. "I'm super proud of the project and what the team accomplished over the last six years."

Marathon's striking art style became a hot topic earlier this year when indie artist Fern Hook, AKA Antireal, accused the studio of lifting her designs without permission or compensation - accusations that Bungie quickly admitted to, explaining that a former artist had mistakenly included Antireal's designs on a decal sheet that then ended up in the game's playtests.

After the studio took months to review the entire game (and presumably scrub any traces of art it didn't own), Hook said the situation had been resolved earlier this month.

Bungie also properly lifted the lid on its upcoming shooter around the same time, announcing that Marathon would launch with a $40 price tag and decaying corpses.

Almost 11 years since launching Destiny 1, former Bungie CEO says live service isn't right for all games: "It's pretty clear that we can't just pick a business model and say that's a reason to make a game."