Epic Games is reportedly moving its Disney collaboration to an “AI first” development process in which models generate the project’s code and guide its artwork. Bloomberg’s account, cited by Ars Technica, is based on unnamed people familiar with the project and internal employee messages.
The planned Marvel and Star Wars shooter was originally expected in March 2027 but has now been delayed indefinitely. According to the report, development was understaffed and progressing more slowly than expected before the change. Human developers would supervise and refine output from systems such as Anthropic’s Claude rather than write all code and art assets directly.
Epic describes the strategy as AI-accelerated development led by its own developers. CEO Tim Sweeney said the aim is to let teams build more rather than simply reduce headcount. That distinction has not yet been tested by a shipped game, and Epic laid off more than 1,000 employees earlier this year for reasons it linked to declining engagement.
Generative AI is already used in game production, but mostly for research, brainstorming, coding assistance and prototypes. Applying it across an entire major project is a more consequential test, particularly because the schedule has already slipped and generated assets still require technical and creative review.