Epic Games pushes devs toward AI as secret Star Wars and Marvel shooter is delayed

Game delayed, production model shifts

According to Bloomberg, Epic Games has delayed its yet-to-be-announced Star Wars and Marvel crossover shooter. The game had been slated for a March release but was pushed back to accommodate a new internal release plan the company has not shared.

An "AI first" approach

Developers on the project are reportedly being encouraged to use AI tools such as Anthropic's assistant Claude, with humans expected to oversee the output. An internal message from one of the project's directors said there would be "no more hand-written code" and that all art would be "generated with full AI workflows."

Epic's response

Epic communications director Jake Jones told Bloomberg: "We're embracing AI-accelerated development, led by Epic developers who are the visionaries and creative drivers for everything we do." The report added that the push left many developers stunned.

Sweeney: "A huge pivot underway"

Studio founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said on X that the company has a "huge pivot underway," moving developers around to retool for "maximum AI acceleration." He said the aim is not to do the same work with fewer people but to let everyone build more and better, and to bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal.

The Disney connection

Disney bought a $1.5 billion stake in the Fortnite maker in 2024. The report says it remains unclear when and where the game will launch.