Overview
- Bloomberg reported on October 12 that Epic has delayed an unannounced shooter featuring Marvel and Star Wars characters that had been targeted for March, and the company has not given a new release date.
- Internal messages reviewed by reporters say one director told teams there will be “no more hand‑written code” and that art should be created with “full AI workflows,” with AI models like Anthropic’s Claude producing material for human oversight.
- Epic’s public response frames the change as an ‘AI‑accelerated’ pivot led by developers, with CEO Tim Sweeney saying the company is moving staff to ‘retool for maximum AI acceleration’ and communications director Jake Jones calling the approach developer‑led.
- Several developers told reporters they were surprised and concerned by the sudden directive, raising questions about quality control, how AI errors will be fixed, and the effect on job roles after Epic cut about 1,000 positions earlier this year.
- The title is an early, high‑profile deliverable of Disney’s $1.5 billion equity stake in Epic, so the shift intensifies scrutiny over game quality, creator rights and how generative models are trained, and it leaves investors and players watching for a new release date and proof of the promised gains.