A cutscene in Destiny 2 bears an uncanny resemblance to a piece of art drawn by a fan. Some players have become outraged after learning that the player wasn't credited for their work in the Destiny 2 fan art shown in the cutscene.It's no secret that many players believe that Destiny 2 has been poorly handled by Bungie recently. The game has come under fire due to its unfair structure with challenges, its increasing monetization, and the questionable balance changes that are brought with each of the game's Seasons. Unfortunately, the community has also felt growingly disconnected from Bungie, which keeps on doubling down with its practices without paying attention to the concerns of the player base.This lack of communication between Bungie and Destiny 2 fans has become more prominent after a fan pointed out the uncanny similarity between an art piece they created and a cutscene unveiled during the Season of the Deep. The cutscene explains the origins of The Witness, an entity that's shown an obsession with The Traveler. This new piece of lore managed to explain many of the actions of The Witness in Destiny 2: Lightfall and has managed to bring a more exciting view to the latest Season. However, the cutscene features art that seems to be a direct copy of a piece created by artist Julian Faylona, who has provided a side-by-side comparison between the art shown during the cutscene and their own.
The artist was asked if they were credited for the inspiration drawn by the piece, to which the fan replied that they weren't. The similarities between the art piece and the art shown during this cutscene seem way too similar to be called a coincidence. The community quickly brought this to social media, and players soon learned that Faylona's art piece in question had been around for two years, with the original post from the artist stating that the art was inspired by the veiled statues found in Destiny 2.
This isn't the first time that Bungie has used other fans' art without permission. Back in 2021, the developers were called out by the fan base after striking similarities between a cutscene from Destiny 2's The Witch Queen expansion and fan art depicting Xivu Arath were found. Bungie issued a statement afterward, declaring that there was a mistake during the creation process of the promotional material, with the company obtaining permission from the artist afterward. The Destiny 2 player base hopes this solution will happen with Julian Faylona's work as well.
Destiny 2 is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
