RALEIGH, October 14 — Epic Games has delayed its upcoming Disney video game to shift development toward an AI-first production plan, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. The delay follows an internal directive from one of the game’s directors instructing the team to adopt ‘no more hand-written code’ and to generate all art using full AI workflows. This move aligns with Epic’s broader push to integrate generative AI tools into its Unreal Engine platform throughout 2024.
Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games in 2024 as part of a strategic collaboration aimed at building a ‘games and entertainment universe.’ Earlier in 2024, the project was rumored to be an extraction shooter similar to Arc Raiders, initially slated for a November launch, but Bloomberg reported the date had already been pushed to March prior to the AI directive. The AI-first approach has not been universally welcomed by developers, with some employees reportedly hoping the request was not serious.
According to the Game Developers Conference’s annual survey, 52 percent of developers viewed generative AI as harmful to the industry in 2024, up from 30 percent in 2023, while many developers use gen AI primarily for research and programming rather than asset creation. Epic’s Communications Director Jake Jones stated to Bloomberg that the company is embracing AI-accelerated development led by its developers as visionaries and creative drivers.
This shift reflects a growing industry tension between technological ambition and developer sentiment, as studios experiment with AI to accelerate pipelines while navigating concerns about creative control and job impact. The practical upshot?
Think of it like swapping a paintbrush for a prompt — faster output, but a different kind of craft. Looking ahead, all eyes will be on how Epic balances its AI-first mandate with the expectations of its Disney partnership and the realities of game development timelines. The next milestone to watch is whether the revised March timeline holds under the new workflow, or if further adjustments emerge as teams adapt to generating entire assets through AI.
