Epic's New Disney Game Will Be Built Mostly by AI

Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, is making a big bet on artificial intelligence for its next big game. According to Bloomberg, the company has told its developers to use AI tools like Anthropic's Claude to write code and create art for an unannounced Disney game. One director even said, "No more hand-written code." The game, a shooter featuring Marvel and Star Wars characters, has been delayed from its original March release. This shift to "AI-accelerated development" is part of a larger trend in the tech industry, where companies are looking to AI to speed up work and cut costs.

So what does this mean for you? If you're a gamer, it could mean more frequent updates and new content, as AI can generate code and art much faster than humans. But it also raises concerns about quality and originality. Will AI-generated art look as good as human-made? And will the game feel less creative? For workers in the tech and gaming industries, this is a warning sign. Epic already laid off over 1,000 employees earlier this year, and using AI for most of the work could lead to fewer jobs for developers and artists. CEO Tim Sweeney says the goal is to let everyone build "MORE and BETTER stuff," but it's unclear if that will translate to more hiring.

This move is part of a broader push by Epic and other companies like Meta and Google to integrate AI into game development. Sweeney has even argued that Steam should drop its "made with AI" tag because AI will be involved in almost all future production. Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic in 2024, so this game is a major collaboration. While AI could make games cheaper and faster to produce, it also risks making them feel generic. For now, the delay suggests that even with AI, making a big-budget game is still complicated.