Epic reportedly delays its Disney video game so it can be made using more AI

Epic Games is going all in on AI for game development. The studio has been working on games for Disney, but sources told Bloomberg that its upcoming release has been delayed in order to use more AI for its creation. The publication reported that one of the game's directors informed the team that the project would be adopting an "AI first" production plan. "No more hand-written code," the internal message stated, as well as ordering all art for the project to be "generated with full AI workflows."

The publication's sources said this new approach was not universally well-received by the devs, with some employees allegedly hoping that the request wasn't totally serious. However, Epic Games has already been pushing a lot of generative AI tools into its Unreal Engine platform this year, so the directive seems pretty real. "We're embracing AI-accelerated development, led by Epic developers who are the visionaries and creative drivers for everything we do," Epic's Communications Director Jake Jones said in a statement to Bloomberg.

Disney announced a hefty investment of $1.5 billion into Epic back in 2024. While several Disney-owned characters have appeared as Fortnite skins over the years, this deeper collaboration was aimed at creating a "games and entertainment universe." Earlier this year, it was rumored that the developer's most promising project for Disney was an extraction shooter a la Arc Raiders. That game was purportedly due to launch in November, although Bloomberg's latest report was that the date had been pushed back to March even before the new AI mission was given.

According to GDC's annual survey, a growing number of devs see gen AI as bad for the business. Fifty-two percent said the tech was bad for the industry in this year's survey, up from 30 percent in 2025. The survey also revealed that while many in gaming do use gen AI tools, it's primarily for tasks such as research and programming rather than asset creation.