Marathon is in a flat spin right now, but half a year ago—and despite some bumpiness at Bungie—Sony had high hopes: So high that it hired Oscar-winning director Alberto Mielgo to head up the creation of an eight-minute cinematic short that lays the foundation for the game's setting and story. It's very sharp and stylish, and Mielgo wants you (as in, everyone) to know that it was not made using generative AI.
"I can’t believe we’ve reached a point where I have to clarify this, but here it goes: this is not AI. HELLO," Mielgo wrote on Instagram (via Kotaku).
"Everything you see in this film: paintings, animations, 2D and 3D work, compositing, and renders done with [a] huge team—155 incredible people and hell of hours, days, months… Yes, our Achilles’ heel: time."
I don't know where the AI allegations are coming from, to be honest: There's nothing in the comments on YouTube (or at least nothing that isn't buried so deeply as to be irrelevant), nor have I run across anything on Reddit. There are conversations about the role AI might play in Marathon's narrative, but those are in reference to the AIs that appear in the game, in particular Durandal, and what role they might play in the reboot. So, a misunderstanding, maybe?
Whatever the case, Mielgo went on to say that he hasn't nailed down his own opinions on AI, but vows that "AI will never take away my (your) urge or joy for making art and painting. That part will never be replaced."
Ironically, he then concludes, "This text was kindly edited with ChatGPT," leading me to think that he hasn't put a whole lot of thought into any of this, really.
In comments that have since been deleted but were captured by The Game Post, Mielgo was also dismissive of concerns about Bungie's use of stolen art assets in Marathon. When asked about that, the director said what's even worse is "working our asses off for years to create something cool, only for it to get eclipsed by sphincter smelly press and headline readers." In a subsequent message he said Bungie "accidentally" used a texture in Marathon without permission, which was then "blown out of proportion by people like you and hungry sphincter press."
I can only assume that Mielgo, who is Spanish, means to describe us as "assholes." In any event, he did eventually clarify that "none of the [stolen] text/fonts ever reached our team."
Sony said last week that Marathon will come out by March 2026, come hell or high water, and that it will "make corrections" as needed. We shall see.
