Epic Games has delayed its upcoming Disney collaboration – a shooter featuring characters from the Marvel and Star Wars franchises – and told developers to move to an “AI first” production model.
According to Bloomberg, the game had been slated for March, but no new release date has been confirmed.
People familiar with the project told the site that developers were asked to build the game with AI tools, including Anthropic’s Claude, with staff overseeing the output.
In an internal message seen by Bloomberg, one of the game’s directors told staff: “No more hand-written code.” The director also said all of the game’s art would be “generated with full AI workflows.”
In a statement to Bloomberg, Epic communications director Jake Jones said the company is “embracing AI-accelerated development, led by Epic developers who are the visionaries and creative drivers for everything we do.” Disney did not immediately respond to the outlet’s request for comment.
Developers were told about the change on a video call last week, and some were “stunned” according to Bloomberg’s sources.
The same sources also said development had fallen behind schedule, partly because Epic misjudged the staffing and time the game would need. Bloomberg noted that Epic was already encouraging AI use across its divisions, and said no other major games company has previously tried to make a game mostly with AI.
Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic in 2024 and took an equity stake, and the two companies announced a partnership covering multiple games, with this shooter due to be the first. In March, Epic said it was cutting 1,000 jobs, in part due to slowing engagement in Fortnite.
A 2026 GDC survey found that more than a third of game developers use AI in their work, while more than half believe it is harmful to the industry.
Earlier today we reported that Yuji Horii, the creator of Dragon Quest, had produced a new game using AI in about 30 minutes.