Marathon’s senior art director has left Bungie, ahead of the game’s release
Joseph Cross was a lead concept artist on Destiny 2
The senior art director of Marathon has left Bungie, ahead of the game’s release in March.
The Game Post originally spotted that the LinkedIn page of Joseph Cross listed his role as senior art director in the ‘experiences’ section of his page, but that rather than “March 2018 – present” it said “March 2018 – 2025”.
The site also noted that Cross’s X profile bio used to read “Franchise art director, Marathon @ Bungie“, but now reads “Art director and artist – Marathon, Dune, Destiny“.
The changes led to speculation that Cross may have left Bungie at an unspecified time this year. This was then confirmed by Kotaku, who reached out to Cross personally.
Cross told the publication that it had been his decision to leave, adding: “I’m super proud of the project and what the team accomplished over the last six years.”
Marathon was originally planned for release on September 23, but Bungie announced in June that it had officially delayed the game, citing a need for more time to refine and test.
The delay followed mixed feedback from players to alpha tests, as well as a significant controversy around stolen artwork that was found in those test builds.
Earlier this month, Scottish artist Fern ‘4nt1r34l’ Hook, who noted back in May that some of her previous art was being used as assets in Marathon without her permission, stated that the issue had “been resolved with Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment to my satisfaction”.
On Monday, Bungie officially announced that Marathon will release in March 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC priced at $39.99 / €39.99 / £34.99.
Bungie claims that Marathon will feature no pay-to-win mechanics, and players will have access to all gameplay updates (maps, Runner shells, events, etc), with an additional reward pass that won’t expire.
