Epic Games Delays Disney Shooter While Pivoting to Maximum AI Acceleration

Epic Games has delayed a new Disney shooter to an unknown date and is moving its development team toward AI-focused production methods. This follows reports from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier regarding the collaboration between the two companies. Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, later confirmed on social media that a huge pivot is underway across the studio.

The unannounced shooter features characters from Marvel and Star Wars as part of a crossover experience. One internal message reportedly described the project as similar to an extraction-style game like ARC Raiders, which received middling reviews earlier in the year. This aligns with reports that the Disney collaboration includes a significant financial backing component.

Developers have been instructed to implement an AI-first production model for this specific title. An internal director reportedly told staff there will be no more hand-written code and that all game art must be generated with full AI workflows. Some reports specify the team is using Anthropic’s Claude AI models to support these generative workflows.

Employees on the project expressed confusion and shock regarding the surprise policy changes last week. Staff members reportedly joked about asking the AI to fix its own mistakes or hoped the initiative would reverse course. There are currently unclear guardrails for preventing errors from slipping into the final game product.

Tim Sweeney stated the goal is not to do the same work with fewer people but to enable teams to build more and better content. He emphasized that the benefits would extend to all teams using the Unreal Engine technology. However, sources speaking to Bloomberg questioned whether this was damage control for replacing human developers.

Communications director Jake Jones released a statement describing Epic as embracing AI-accelerated development. He noted that Epic developers remain the visionaries and creative drivers for everything they do. The company has been pushing AI usage in games like Fortnite for some time.

Disney invested $1.5 billion into the Fortnite developer in 2024 for collaborations including this project. Despite the funding, Epic Games laid off 1,000 people earlier this year amid the battle royale’s struggles and antitrust litigation costs. The investment is now looking less fruitful according to some observers given the delays and production changes.