Epic Mandates 'No Hand-Written Code' on Disney Shooter — SkimNews
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- Epic Games told staff on its Disney shooter to embrace an "AI-first" mandate — one director wrote "No more hand-written code" — and that art would be "generated with full AI workflows" (per Bloomberg)
- The Marvel/Star Wars game has been delayed from its original March release, with teams directed to use AI tools including Anthropic's Claude
- Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic in 2024 as part of the broader multiyear collaboration behind the shooter; Epic and Disney declined further comment
- CEO Tim Sweeney has pushed Steam to drop its "made with AI" tag, arguing "AI will be involved in nearly all future production"
- Epic laid off over 1,000 employees earlier this year following a reported Fortnite engagement downturn since 2025
- Fortnite has already deployed AI characters, previously featuring an AI-powered Darth Vader that interacted with players
Why it matters: Epic's "AI-first" mandate on a marquee Disney shooter comes after 1,000+ layoffs and a Fortnite engagement slide since 2025, while CEO Tim Sweeney simultaneously lobbies Steam to drop "made with AI" disclosure labels. With Disney having invested $1.5 billion in Epic in 2024, the studio is betting its biggest external partnership on a fully AI-generated pipeline.
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