Marathon Art Director Joseph Cross' Statement on Stolen Assets & Apology to Antireal / 4nt1r34l

00:04:06
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh8GyCiuzCs

Summary

TLDRIn this video, Joe, the game director of Marathon, and Joe Cross, the franchise art director, discuss a recent issue regarding the unauthorized use of graphic elements in the game. They acknowledge that an artist's work was used without permission, leading to a commitment to improve their review process and ensure proper sourcing of artistic elements. They express respect for independent artists and apologize to the affected artist, Auntie Real, while outlining steps being taken to rectify the situation. The team emphasizes their dedication to ethical practices in game development and the importance of collaboration with artists.

Takeaways

  • 🎮 Joe introduces the Marathon team.
  • 🖌️ Discussion on unauthorized graphic elements.
  • ⚠️ Acknowledgment of oversight in art sourcing.
  • 🔍 Commitment to improve review processes.
  • 🤝 Apology to artist Auntie Real.
  • 📅 Content delay due to auditing.
  • 🎨 Influences on Marathon's art style.
  • 💼 Respect for independent artists.
  • 🔄 Steps to rectify the situation.
  • 📢 Emphasis on ethical practices in development.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:04:06

    The live session begins with Joe, the game director of Marathon, introducing himself and Joe Cross, the franchise art director. They discuss the planned content for the show, which has been altered due to recent events. Joe Cross addresses an incident involving an artist who used graphic elements without permission, leading to their inclusion in the alpha build. He emphasizes the commitment to improving the review process to prevent such oversights in the future. Actions taken include reaching out to the affected artist, auditing previous work, and ensuring any questionable elements are removed or recreated. Joe Cross expresses respect for independent artists and offers a personal apology to the affected artist, highlighting the importance of collaboration and appreciation in the creative process.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What is the main topic of the video?

    The video discusses a situation regarding the unauthorized use of graphic elements in the game Marathon.

  • Who are the speakers in the video?

    The speakers are Joe, the game director, and Joe Cross, the franchise art director.

  • What happened with the graphic elements?

    An artist used graphic elements from another designer without permission, which ended up in the alpha build of the game.

  • What steps are being taken to address the issue?

    They are auditing previous work, reaching out to the affected artist, and committing to improving their review process.

  • Who is Auntie Real?

    Auntie Real is the artist whose work was used without permission.

  • What is the commitment made by the team?

    They are committed to ensuring that such oversights do not happen again and to properly source all artistic elements.

  • What influences the art style of Marathon?

    The art style is influenced by modernism, Swiss typography, 2000s vector art, cyberpunk, and the original Marathon trilogy.

  • What is the team's attitude towards independent artists?

    They express respect and admiration for independent artists and value collaboration with them.

  • Why was some content delayed?

    Content was delayed due to the need to audit and potentially remove questionably sourced elements.

  • What is the overall message of the video?

    The overall message is about accountability, respect for artists, and a commitment to ethical practices in game development.

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  • 00:00:00
    All right, we're
  • 00:00:02
    live. Hi everybody. How's it going? Uh,
  • 00:00:04
    I'm Joe. In case you don't know me, I'm
  • 00:00:06
    the game director here on Marathon. To
  • 00:00:08
    my left here, or potentially on the
  • 00:00:10
    right on your screen, depending on if
  • 00:00:11
    it's mirrored, is Joe Cross, everybody's
  • 00:00:13
    favorite Joe, our director on Marathon.
  • 00:00:16
    Sitting at sitting across from me, who's
  • 00:00:19
    not on camera, is uh Andrew Witz,
  • 00:00:22
    gameplay director. And we're going to
  • 00:00:24
    spend some time talking about some stuff
  • 00:00:25
    today. Our show is a little bit
  • 00:00:27
    different today that we planned actually
  • 00:00:29
    to show a lot more stuff, but for a lot
  • 00:00:31
    of reasons we're about to get into, we
  • 00:00:32
    decided not to um show a bunch of this
  • 00:00:34
    stuff. But we are going to be discussing
  • 00:00:36
    a lot about what we learned through
  • 00:00:38
    Alpha, some of the plans that we're
  • 00:00:40
    going forward with. But before we get
  • 00:00:41
    into that, uh Joe Cross has some sort of
  • 00:00:43
    topic that he wants to talk to you all
  • 00:00:45
    about. Yep. Thanks Joe. Um and hey
  • 00:00:48
    everyone, I'm Joe Cross, franchise art
  • 00:00:51
    director of Marathon. Um yeah, and
  • 00:00:54
    wanted to take a minute to talk about uh
  • 00:00:57
    some of the events from yesterday. Um it
  • 00:01:00
    came to our attention and sorry um I
  • 00:01:03
    wrote this. I wanted to make sure I get
  • 00:01:04
    this message right. It came to our
  • 00:01:06
    attention that an artist who worked on
  • 00:01:07
    Marathon in the early stages of
  • 00:01:10
    pre-production uh took a number of
  • 00:01:13
    graphic elements from a graphic designer
  • 00:01:15
    uh without permission or acknowledgement
  • 00:01:17
    and placed them on a decal sheet that
  • 00:01:19
    was then checked in in 2020. Uh the
  • 00:01:22
    decal sheet included icons and text
  • 00:01:24
    elements. Um these elements ended up in
  • 00:01:27
    our alpha build. Um and there's
  • 00:01:29
    absolutely no excuse uh for this
  • 00:01:31
    oversight and we are working on and 100%
  • 00:01:34
    committed to our review process to
  • 00:01:36
    ensure instances like this uh don't
  • 00:01:38
    happen again on Marathon or at Bungie.
  • 00:01:42
    Um a few of the things that we've done
  • 00:01:44
    over the last 24 hours and what we're
  • 00:01:46
    doing uh to shore up the review process
  • 00:01:49
    are as follows. Um, we've reached out
  • 00:01:52
    to, uh, Anti-real, uh, the artist in
  • 00:01:55
    question, um, and followed up to ensure
  • 00:01:57
    that we do write by this artist. Um, uh,
  • 00:02:00
    we're auditing all of the previous work,
  • 00:02:03
    uh, by the artist, uh, the internal
  • 00:02:05
    artist, including the environment decals
  • 00:02:07
    already in the build. Uh, which is part
  • 00:02:09
    of why we're delaying some of the
  • 00:02:11
    content we're going to show today. Um,
  • 00:02:13
    and we're committed to removing anything
  • 00:02:16
    that is, uh, questionably or
  • 00:02:18
    inappropriately sourced. Um uh we're
  • 00:02:21
    doing a very broad decal audit and if we
  • 00:02:23
    locate any other details or elements um
  • 00:02:26
    we'll make sure that those are um
  • 00:02:28
    eliminated, recreated uh inhouse for
  • 00:02:31
    sure. Um hundreds of artists have worked
  • 00:02:35
    on this project uh for years internally
  • 00:02:38
    and externally. Um, and we share many
  • 00:02:41
    influences including uh modernism, uh,
  • 00:02:45
    Swiss type typography, uh, 2000s styled
  • 00:02:48
    vector art, cyber punk, and of course
  • 00:02:51
    the original marathon trilogy.
  • 00:02:54
    Um, our style is a result of all of
  • 00:02:57
    those inspirations. Um, it's also worth
  • 00:02:59
    noting that none of our external
  • 00:03:01
    partners who who've worked on branding
  • 00:03:03
    or any part of the visual design of our
  • 00:03:05
    game uh were involved with this
  • 00:03:07
    situation.
  • 00:03:09
    Um, and lastly, personally, you know, I
  • 00:03:12
    have a huge amount of respect and
  • 00:03:14
    admiration for artists working
  • 00:03:15
    independently and producing, making a
  • 00:03:18
    living doing commercial or fine art. Uh,
  • 00:03:21
    and we've worked with many of them. Um,
  • 00:03:23
    it's one of my favorite parts of the job
  • 00:03:27
    is to make those connections and and and
  • 00:03:30
    you create content and collaborate. Um,
  • 00:03:34
    and so to that extent, I want to send my
  • 00:03:35
    personal apology to Auntie Real. uh
  • 00:03:38
    whose work was used in this case. Um,
  • 00:03:40
    and I know how unfair this feels and and
  • 00:03:43
    we're doing everything we can uh to make
  • 00:03:45
    this right with her. Uh, her work is
  • 00:03:47
    fantastic and we clearly share mutual
  • 00:03:51
    appreciation um for a specific genre of
  • 00:03:54
    graphic design. Um, and um, it's very
  • 00:03:57
    exciting and I'm excited to have folded
  • 00:04:00
    that into our style in general. So,
  • 00:04:02
    thanks for listening and thanks for your
  • 00:04:04
    patience.
Tags
  • Marathon
  • game development
  • graphic design
  • Auntie Real
  • art oversight
  • Bungie
  • artistic influences
  • review process
  • independent artists
  • accountability