Epic Games Delays Disney Game, Orders AI-First Development

Bloomberg reported on October 12, 2026 (local time) that Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, delayed the release of a new game it is co-developing with Disney and instructed developers to strengthen their use of generative AI. According to witnesses and internal messages the outlet confirmed, the company introduced an 'AI-first' production approach using tools such as Anthropic's Claude, with humans managing and guiding the work.

The project is an unannounced shooter featuring characters from Marvel and Star Wars. Bloomberg said the release has been postponed and no new date has been given. In an internal message the outlet reviewed, one of the game's directors told staff to stop writing code by hand and said in-game art would be generated through a workflow relying extensively on AI.

Epic Games spokesperson Jake Jones told Bloomberg that developers leading the creative direction are driving efforts to accelerate development with AI. A Disney spokesperson did not comment at the time of publication. Bloomberg, citing sources, reported that development had been running behind schedule partly because Epic underestimated the number of staff and the production time needed. Some developers reacted with surprise and questions to the AI instruction, and the outlet reported internal concerns about how errors in AI-generated output would be handled and whether the expected results would be achieved.

Disney and Epic Games announced on February 7, 2024 that they would jointly develop a new game and entertainment space linked to Fortnite. Disney simultaneously disclosed a plan to invest $1.5 billion toward acquiring a stake in Epic Games. The official announcement said the space would combine content and characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars for gaming, viewing, shopping and content creation, built on Unreal Engine.

Epic Games is also using AI in other products. On October 14, 2026, when it released a preview of a new Epic Games Launcher, the company said it used 'vibe coding,' a development method in which code is generated from natural-language instructions to an AI. The preview is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Bloomberg reported on October 12, 2026 (local time) that Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, delayed the release of a new game it is co-developing with Disney and instructed developers to strengthen their use of generative AI. According to witnesses and internal messages the outlet confirmed, the company introduced an 'AI-first' production approach using tools such as Anthropic's Claude, with humans managing and guiding the work.

The project is an unannounced shooter featuring characters from Marvel and Star Wars. Bloomberg said the release has been postponed and no new date has been given. In an internal message the outlet reviewed, one of the game's directors told staff to stop writing code by hand and said in-game art would be generated through a workflow relying extensively on AI.

Epic Games spokesperson Jake Jones told Bloomberg that developers leading the creative direction are driving efforts to accelerate development with AI. A Disney spokesperson did not comment at the time of publication. Bloomberg, citing sources, reported that development had been running behind schedule partly because Epic underestimated the number of staff and the production time needed. Some developers reacted with surprise and questions to the AI instruction, and the outlet reported internal concerns about how errors in AI-generated output would be handled and whether the expected results would be achieved.

Disney and Epic Games announced on February 7, 2024 that they would jointly develop a new game and entertainment space linked to Fortnite. Disney simultaneously disclosed a plan to invest $1.5 billion toward acquiring a stake in Epic Games. The official announcement said the space would combine content and characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars for gaming, viewing, shopping and content creation, built on Unreal Engine.

Epic Games is also using AI in other products. On October 14, 2026, when it released a preview of a new Epic Games Launcher, the company said it used 'vibe coding,' a development method in which code is generated from natural-language instructions to an AI. The preview is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.