Epic Games delays Disney game and tells developers to go "AI first"
Epic Games has delayed its upcoming Disney collaboration - a shooter featuring characters from the Marvel and Star Wars franchises - and told developers to move to an "AI first" production model. Read more
Epic Games has postponed its planned Disney game, a shooter featuring Marvel and Star Wars characters, and instructed developers to adopt an AI-first production approach. Bloomberg reported that the game, initially set for March release, has seen no revised date confirmed. Sources revealed developers were directed to incorporate AI tools like Anthropic's Claude and eliminate manual coding.
An Epic director emphasized full AI-driven art generation. Epic's communications head Jake Jones announced the company's embrace of AI-accelerated development. Disney declined to comment. Developers, upon learning of the shift during a video call, expressed surprise. Some sources suggested the project lagged due to Epic's overestimation of resources needed.
While Epic has previously encouraged AI adoption, no other major studio has undertaken a game primarily created with AI. Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic last year and held a stake in the company. The two firms jointly announced a multi-game partnership, with this AI-driven shooter as the inaugural title. In March, Epic announced 1,000 job cuts amid declining Fortnite engagement.
A 2026 GDC survey found over a third of developers used AI, with more than half viewing it negatively for the industry.
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