Marathon art director Joseph Cross leaves Bungie

Marathon art director Joseph Cross has left Bungie after a decade at the developer.

In a statement to Kotaku, Cross clarified that it was his decision to leave but did not give further reasoning as to why.

“I’m super proud of the project and what the team accomplished over the last six years,” he said.

Cross also shared a post on social media, and said he will “enjoy playing the game as a fan with all of you.”

“I’m incredibly proud of the visual world we built for Marathon,” he wrote.

“Getting support at this scale for something a bit different is rare, and the art team at Bungie is the best in the biz. I’ll be enjoying playing the game as a fan with all of you. Massive thank you to everyone who has supported through all of it.”

Cross worked at Bungie for 13 years, starting in 2011 as lead concept artist. He became the studio’s senior art director in 2018 working on the Destiny franchise.

On Marathon, Cross led its art direction and visual development for seven years. He led an art team of over 80 employees including co-devs and outsourcing.

Cross was also a concept artist for Electronic Arts and Motion Theory, as well as an art director at Probably Monsters.

Following an indefinite delay, Bungie announced Marathon’s launch window for March 2026.

The game was initially set for release on September 23, 2025. Bungie later admitted that it “need[ed] more time to craft Marathon into the game that truly reflects [its players] passion.”

During its financial results in August, Sony said it expected Marathon to launch “within the fiscal year.”

The firm reiterated this belief in its Q2 earnings last month, saying it is “fully dedicated to launching the title as scheduled.”