"No more handwritten code." According to Bloomberg, that is what Epic Games developers working on an unannounced shooter with Marvel and Star Wars characters heard last week. All art for the game will now be generated with AI workflows, code will be written by tools such as Anthropic's Claude, and humans will review and steer the work. Tim Sweeney did not deny it. He confirmed that Epic has a "huge pivot" toward AI underway.
What staff were told
- Which game. A joint project with Disney, which invested $1.5 billion in Epic in 2024. It is meant to feature Marvel and Star Wars characters and, per TechPowerUp citing Bloomberg, was planned for March 2027 before being delayed.
- Why. Bloomberg's sources say progress was slower than planned, partly because Epic underestimated how many people it would need.
- How it landed. Some staff were reportedly stunned, and on the call people joked about whether they should ask Claude to fix its own mistakes.
This is not Epic's first AI story. In June 2026 the company announced that Unreal Engine 6 will integrate models such as Claude and Gemini to cut, in Epic's words, the "tedious work". And plans to create Fortnite characters with AI led Poncle, the studio behind Vampire Survivors, to pull out of a collaboration with Epic.
What Epic itself says
| Who | What they said |
|---|---|
| Bloomberg's sources | "no more handwritten code", all art through AI, humans review |
| Epic spokesperson | the company is "embracing AI-accelerated development", led by its own developers as the creative drivers |
| Tim Sweeney, Epic CEO | a "huge pivot" is underway; the aim is not fewer people but "MORE and BETTER stuff" |
Sweeney wrote that developers are being moved around to retool for maximum AI acceleration, and that the benefits will reach every team using Unreal. Epic is one of the first major companies to effectively confirm it is building a AAA game primarily with AI. Sweeney has defended AI before, for example calling Steam's requirement to disclose AI use "really irresponsible".
My take is simple: for now these are words, not a game. The approach can only be judged by the shooter itself, and how much human work ends up in it will matter more to players than any talk of acceleration. A game like this will most likely carry an AI disclosure on its Steam page.
Sources
Bloomberg, Jason Schreier, October 12, 2026: the delay of the Disney project and the push to use AI, Epic's spokesperson statement. VGC, October 12, 2026: summary of Bloomberg and Tim Sweeney's post on X. TechPowerUp, October 12, 2026: the original March 2027 target, the Poncle story, Unreal Engine 6.
Images: Fortnite, official art from fortnite.com; Unreal Engine, official image from unrealengine.com.
