Epic delays Disney shooter slated for next March amid AI-first shift

Internal guidance described in the report pushes an “AI-first” workflow: use generative tools like Anthropic’s Claude to produce assets and let humans manage and direct the work. One game director reportedly wrote in a company message that not just code but “all art” would be created through a “complete AI workflow.” When that plan was discussed on a video call last week, some developers were rattled; anecdotes include a joke about making Claude fix Claude’s own errors. Reactions ranged from hope the directive would be rescinded to skepticism that the approach would succeed.

Epic’s communications team and executives offered a different tone in public statements. Epic communications director Jake Jones said the company is “embracing AI-accelerated development” while keeping Epic developers in creative lead roles. CEO Tim Sweeney posted on X that Epic is undergoing a “huge directional shift,” reallocating developers to maximize AI acceleration and promising to share benefits across teams using Unreal Engine. Sweeney framed the biggest immediate change as a shorter cycle from idea to playtest, arguing that many recent AAA failures stem from insufficient playtesting during development. Separately, Bloomberg notes Epic confirmed only the AI-acceleration direction and did not provide official reasons for the reported schedule change or a new release date.

Context and corporate moves remain part of the backdrop: Epic cut more than 1,000 jobs in March, a move the company previously said was unrelated to AI. Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic in February 2024 for a strategic stake to build games and entertainment IP together. Industry peers have announced similar AI pivots—Krafton declared an AI-first transition last October and ran a voluntary separation program in November, while Square Enix aims to automate 70% of QA and debugging with generative AI by late 2027.