Epic Games is reportedly putting generative AI at the center of development on its Disney collaboration, with models writing code and guiding artwork for a planned Marvel- and Star Wars-themed shooter. The project, originally slated for March 2027, has been delayed indefinitely. That is a dramatic change in production strategy—and a reminder that adding AI to a game does not magically remove the hard parts of making one.
Bloomberg reported the shift, citing unnamed people familiar with the project and internal Epic employee messages it reviewed. According to the report, human developers will manage and guide code and art assets generated by models including Anthropic’s Claude. The messages reportedly describe “no more hand-written code” and art assets “generated with full AI workflows.”
Epic’s public statement confirms a move toward AI-assisted development, but stops short of spelling out every detail in Bloomberg’s account. “We’re embracing AI-accelerated development, led by Epic developers who are the visionaries and creative drivers for everything we do,” a spokesperson said.
CEO Tim Sweeney was more expansive on social media shortly after the report appeared. “We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic, moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration,” he wrote. He added that the goal was not to “do the same stuff with fewer people,” but to let teams build “MORE and BETTER stuff” and bring the benefits to Unreal users.
The Disney collaboration, announced in early 2024 and valued at $1.5 billion, was supposed to deliver a shooter combining two of the most familiar universes in entertainment. Bloomberg reported that the game is now delayed indefinitely amid the AI-related shakeup, understaffing and development moving more slowly than expected. The report does not give a new release window.
There is a meaningful distinction between developers using AI tools and making AI generation the default source of code and art. In the latter setup, people still have to review, integrate and maintain what the models produce. Generated code has to work with the rest of a game; art has to fit the project’s visual direction. Calling humans the “visionaries” may describe the intended workflow, but it does not tell us how well that workflow is performing—or whether it will speed up this particular game.
That uncertainty matters because the project was already reportedly understaffed and behind expectations. An AI-first pipeline could help teams produce more, as Sweeney argues. It could also add new coordination and quality-control work just as Epic is reorganizing development. The announcement offers no details on evaluation methods, how much content will be generated, or how human review will work.
There is no basis here to conclude that Epic is replacing its developers: Sweeney explicitly rejected that as the aim. But this is more than a studio quietly adopting a coding assistant. If Bloomberg’s account is accurate, Epic is changing how a major game gets made while the game itself remains delayed. The technology may prove useful. For now, the release date—and the results—are both unanswered questions.
Sources: Glitch Please! and Ars Technica — https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/report-epic-games-goes-all-in-on-ai-for-disney-collaboration/ — Reporting based on Bloomberg’s account and Epic statements.
