Epic Games shifts Star Wars and Marvel shooter toward AI-driven development
Epic Games has delayed an unannounced Star Wars and Marvel shooter and instructed its team to adopt an AI-first development model, according to Bloomberg. The project's art is expected to be made using AI throughout production. CEO Tim Sweeney said the company is reorganizing developers to accelerate AI use and described surviving the AI revolution as a modest goal.
According to Bloomberg, Epic Games told staff last week that its unannounced Star Wars and Marvel shooter would be pushed back indefinitely from a planned March 2027 launch. The team was directed toward an AI-first production model, with art created through full AI workflows and tools including Anthropic's Claude.
CEO Tim Sweeney addressed the shift publicly on X, framing it as a broad internal reorganization rather than a cost-cutting measure. He pointed to uneven efficiency gains so far — roughly 20% in technical Unreal Engine work, up to fivefold in web development — and predicted most areas would reach at least triple their January 2026 output within a year.
If major studios follow Epic's lead, AI-first pipelines could reshape who makes games and how quickly. Artists, animators, and junior developers may see their roles redefined or reduced, while smaller teams might gain access to production capacity once reserved for large budgets. Players, meanwhile, may weigh faster releases and lower costs against concerns about craft and originality. The wider entertainment industry could treat this project as a test case, shaping expectations for AI use across film, comics, and interactive media.