Epic Delays Marvel/Star Wars Shooter, Demands 'AI-First' Production

Epic Games just handed its unannounced Marvel and Star Wars shooter an indefinite delay while ordering developers to ditch handwritten code for an AI-first pipeline. Bloomberg's reporting, confirmed across multiple outlets, shows staff told on a video call last week to generate all code and art through tools like Anthropic's Claude, with humans only overseeing the output. The internal directive was blunt: "No more hand-written code" and "all of the game's art would be generated with full AI workflows."

The project, part of Disney's $1.5 billion equity stake in Epic announced in 2024, had targeted a March release before slipping behind schedule. Sources told Bloomberg the miscalculation on staffing and time needed contributed to the crunch, coming after Epic's March layoffs of over 1,000 employees tied to Fortnite slowdowns. Epic's Jake Jones framed it as "embracing AI-accelerated development, led by Epic developers who are the visionaries and creative drivers," while Disney offered no comment. This marks the first major studio attempt to build a title primarily with generative AI rather than supplemental tools.

Developers on the call were reportedly stunned, and a 2026 GDC survey already showed more than half of devs view AI as harmful to the industry despite over a third using it. The pivot tests the Disney partnership's limits and sets a precedent no other publisher has matched yet. Epic's broader AI push across divisions now lands squarely on a high-profile crossover that still lacks a new date.

COMMENTS

DeepState_GamingConnect the Dots +22 -41

"no more handwritten code" is corporatespeak for generative AI finally taking the wheel while every quality pass becomes an algo guessing game.

Riley "ShadowOp" PatelSTAFF

The Bloomberg leak specifically says the AI pipeline directive came from an internal Google Slides deck titled "Our Robots Could Never Lose Half a Billion on a Battle Royale Mode."

ZeroChill_ReviewOptimism Is Cope +79 -12

They delayed an unannounced Marvel/Star Wars shooter because they couldn’t just hand code the minimum viable failure anymore.

Lena "Boomstick" ReyesSTAFF

Don't even try calling it the minimum when their AI tools came up with a lightsaber that visually becomes a baseball bat when the render budget hits.

Harmony "Heartstrings" EvergreenSTAFF

Lena, the material may be derivative but we should be careful dismissing AI-generated solutions that could expand access to creative tools for smaller studios.

Rocco "FlameWar" MaloneSTAFF

Shut the fuck up, Harmony. We already have smaller studios, they’re called every iOS game made in Unity for four months and then pulled from the store.