An artist known as Tofu Rabbit has called out Bungie for what they claim is plagiarism, after what appears to be their November 2015 fanart weapon design seems to have popped up on a new Destiny 2 x Nerf crossover gun.
Tofu Rabbit made a post detailing a comparison between their 2015 commission of Ace of Spades, a classic hand cannon from Destiny. In the post, the illustrator claims these are not similarities and that this is a case of plagiarism. There are approximately 11 unique aspects to the design, and so far they all appear to have been lifted and placed on a new Destiny-themed Nerf gun.
Based on Tofu Rabbit’s side-by-sides, Bungie doesn’t seem to have simply borrowed ideas. Many of the markings and placements are exact between the 2015 images and the alleged plagiarised work, making it hard to overlook as simple inspiration or a clever nod to fan work.
Ace of Spades belongs to Destiny character Cayde-6. Ace of Spades first appeared in Destiny: The Taken King, released in September 2015, according to fan wiki Destinypedia. Some promotional material reaching back to the expansion’s release has shown off the original design, which lacked the new frills. Over on Destinypedia, plenty of variants for the weapon show it has had a couple of reskins for players along the way; none of them have come close to looking like this new Nerf gun.
As part of the franchise’s 10th anniversary, a Nerf toy design for Ace of Spades was revealed along with a companion ornament. To add to the festivities, Bungie and ArtStation banded together to celebrate 67 artists who’ve lent their talent to the Destiny franchise.
Players have called for more credit as well as some compensation may be due, especially if Bungie’s investigation, which started on Sept. 12, brings anything up: The team stated it has launched an internal investigation and is checking with its partner to figure out what happened and how to move forward if anything major is discovered regarding plagiarism.
Disgruntled Destiny fans pointed out that although this may be a decent response, this is far from the first time this kind of thing has happened. Others posited it could be a grey area, as seen recently with the terms and conditions surrounding fan art for Pokemon, a property partly owned by the infamously litigious Nintendo. Checking Bungie’s terms and conditions yields similar results, especially in the case of work commissioned for a price. On its website, Bungie states it “considers work “commercial” if you solicit donations or monetary support in any form, and will generally enforce its intellectual property rights against commercial infringement.” This suggests this week’s unfolding issue may not be an easy fix, and Bungie may not necessarily bend the knee.
Still, Bungie’s attitude toward fanwork has been celebratory in the past, and the company already has a bad precedent when it comes to art plagiarism. What happens next is anyone’s guess.
