Epic Games reportedly delays Star Wars and Marvel shooter, as the Fortnite maker embraces "AI-accelerated development"

Epic Games is reportedly delaying a Star Wars and Marvel crossover shooter due to its internal development issues, according to a Bloomberg report. The unnamed game, a collaboration between Epic and Disney, was expected to launch in March 2027 but has now been pushed back. Sources suggest the company is turning to AI-accelerated development to expedite the project, instructing developers to embrace AI tools like Anthropic's Claude for coding and art generation.

In an internal message, one game director announced that there will be "no more hand-written code" and that artwork should be generated entirely through AI workflows. Epic's communications director, Jake Jones, confirmed the shift, stating that the company is "embracing AI-accelerated development" led by its visionary developers.

The Walt Disney company holds a $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games, and the two companies have reportedly partnered on a games and entertainment universe related to Fortnite. However, no concrete details have been disclosed about the collaboration, aside from the promise of enabling players to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom uniquely, and share content in ways they prefer.

This AI-driven approach comes less than a year after Epic laid off over 1,000 employees, with CEO Tim Sweeney citing significant financial losses and the need for major cuts to sustain the company's funding.