According to Bloomberg, Epic Games is requiring an as-yet-unannounced Disney co-op shooter to fully shift to an AI-centered development model. The title, blending Marvel and Star Wars IP, will use tools such as Anthropic's Claude to write code directly, with art also produced by a complete AI workflow; the human team will step back into directing, managing and reviewing roles. Internal sources say the lead has explicitly told the development team that "from now on, no more code will be written manually" — a move far beyond ordinary AI-assisted programming, effectively pushing generative AI from a supporting role into the lead.
A pivot under schedule pressure, internal doubts unresolved
Behind this move is a project in trouble: the original plan to release in March 2027 has been postponed indefinitely, after Epic's estimates of both the required manpower and timeline proved inaccurate. CEO Sweeney confirmed on social media that the company is reorganizing its teams to master AI, saying the goal is not to have fewer people do the same work but to make each person produce more and better; spokesperson Jones also emphasized that development remains led by Epic staff. But internal upheaval is inevitable — developers worry about the cost of debugging when AI code goes wrong, and about how generated art will align with the overall style. After all, large-scale games involve complex dependencies in physics, network synchronization, rendering and more, so AI output requires extensive review and rework, which may cancel out the speed advantage.
Layoff shadow and the high risk of mature IP
More sensitive is the timing: in March of this year Epic laid off more than a thousand employees, and now its high-profile bet on AI inevitably leads outsiders to wonder whether it is paving the way for further cuts. Sweeney denies that the layoffs were AI-driven, insisting they were to restore financial stability. Meanwhile, the earlier episode of AI Darth Vader producing inappropriate dialogue in Fortnite is a reminder that mature IP tolerates almost no errors. Whether this shooter can use AI to claw back the schedule while preserving quality will be an important case study for watching generative AI rewrite large-scale game production.