Epic Games is delaying its Disney shooter and mandating AI-generated code and art

Epic Games has delayed an unannounced shooter featuring Marvel and Star Wars characters and instructed its developers to adopt an "AI-first" production model, according to Bloomberg.

The game, developed in collaboration with Walt Disney $DIS, had been scheduled for release in March but now has no new release date, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the project who were not authorized to speak publicly. Development has lagged behind schedule, with Epic misjudging both the headcount and the timeline the project would demand, according to Bloomberg.

In an internal message that Bloomberg reviewed, one of the project's directors informed staff that there would be "no more hand-written code" and that the game's artwork would be "generated with full AI workflows." Developers were told to use Anthropic's Claude as part of the new approach, with humans managing and guiding the AI's output.

"We're embracing AI-accelerated development, led by Epic developers who are the visionaries and creative drivers for everything we do," Jake Jones, communications director at Epic Games, said in a statement to Bloomberg.

According to Bloomberg, the news — shared during a video call last week — came as a shock to a number of developers on the team. Staff questioned how errors in AI-generated work would be handled and expressed doubt that the initiative would succeed, Bloomberg reported.

Epic Games, the privately held maker of Fortnite, has been pushing AI adoption across its divisions, but Bloomberg described this as the first attempt by a major video-game company to build a title using AI as the primary foundation of its development pipeline.

Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic in 2024 in exchange for an equity stake, and the two companies agreed to a partnership that was set to begin with this shooting title. A Disney spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, according to Bloomberg. Epic cut 1,000 jobs earlier this year, citing in part slower Fortnite sales.

The use of generative AI has drawn criticism from both developers and players. A survey cited by Bloomberg found that more than one-third of game developers use AI in their work, and more than half believe the technology is harmful to the industry. Games featuring AI-generated content have faced backlash from players who say the output is of lesser quality.