Stellaris: Galaxy Command was only announced yesterday but it's already been pulled after players discovered that it featured art taken from a 343 Industries artist's portfolio. It doesn't appear to have simply been used as a placeholder and forgotten about as the developers have tried to alter the image to play down its origins in Halo.
Stellaris is an excellent grand strategy game on PC developed by Paradox Interactive. In it you develop an empire in space and try to take control of a vast galaxy, through diplomatic means or with an iron fist. Stellaris: Galaxy Command is a newly announced spin-off for mobile developed by Gamebear, in which players control a single space station and form alliances with other players to fight back against an alien invasion.
However, shortly after the reveal, which also announced the launch of a beta test, as Kotaku reports, players discovered art in the game that looked an awful lot like it should be in a Halo game. In fact, it looked almost identical to work created by 343 artist Kenny Magnusson.
Here's the art as it appears in Stellaris: Galaxy Command:
And this is Magnusson's original:
As you can see, the artists at Gamebear have painted over the Pelicans in shot (though, they've left the ramp leading up to one of them), but for some reason decided the Scorpion tanks weren't as recognisable. This is despite the fact, you can still read "UNSC" written down the side of the tanks.
There's even a Warthog in there.
Paradox responded quickly, pulling Galaxy Command's beta and announcing that it will be performing "a full content sweep" to search out any other questionable assets. It's also said that "We trust Gamebear to make things right for Galaxy Command and we will work closely with them to ensure this game meets the high standards our players deserve".
While it could be that this art was originally being used as a placeholder asset, the fact it's been (badly) altered to cover up its origins makes it seem more like the developer wasn't using the art as a placeholder.
Featured Image Credit: Paradox InteractiveTopics: 343 Industries
