Epic Delays Disney Game, Replaces Human Coders with AI

Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, is making a big bet on artificial intelligence. According to Bloomberg, Epic has delayed an upcoming shooter game featuring Marvel and Star Wars characters. The game was originally planned for March 2027, but now has no new release date. The delay happened partly because Epic underestimated how many people and how much time the game would need. In response, Epic is pushing an 'AI-first' approach: developers are told to stop writing code by hand and instead use AI tools like Claude to generate code and artwork. A director reportedly said there would be 'no more hand-written code' and that artwork would be 'generated with full AI workflows.' Human developers still oversee the results, but the shift is significant.

Why does this matter to you? If you play video games, this could affect the quality and timing of future games. If AI can speed up game development, you might get new games faster. But if AI makes mistakes, games could be buggy or delayed even more. Epic's CEO Tim Sweeney says the goal is to help everyone build 'more and better stuff,' not to replace people. However, Epic laid off over 1,000 employees in March, though Sweeney said those cuts were not related to AI. Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic in 2024, so this game is a big deal for both companies.

The catch: AI-generated code and art still need human review, testing, and fixing. If AI creates more errors, the time saved could be lost in debugging. Some Epic employees reportedly raised concerns about how to handle mistakes in AI work. Also, games with famous characters like Marvel and Star Wars need to look and feel right—AI might struggle with consistency. The industry is watching closely: if Epic succeeds, other game studios may follow. If it fails, it could slow down AI adoption in game development. For now, the Disney shooter remains in limbo, and only time will tell if AI can deliver a blockbuster game.