Epic is reportedly delaying Marvel's stealth Star Wars and crossover shooter by pushing developers to use AI

Epic Games has reportedly delayed the secret Star Wars and Marvel crossover game as it forces its developers to switch to an "AI-first" production model.

Details about the yet-to-be-announced Disney video game were shared today by Bloomberg. The site's report states that the untitled crossover experience was scheduled for release in March, but has since been pushed back to accommodate a new domestic release schedule that has yet to be shared.

Epic developers involved in the project have reportedly been encouraged to use tools like Anthropic's AI assistant Claude, with humans expected to oversee that work. Bloomberg also obtained an internal message shared by one of the Star Wars/Marvel game directors.

New Fortnite x Star Wars games and rewards

"No more handwritten code," the message reads in part. The same message is then said to add that all of the project's art is "created with complete AI workflows."

The report goes on to say that Epic underestimated the time and resources needed to develop Star Wars and Marvel's shooter. Progress has been slower than expected, leading to delays. The time and place of its release is not known.

"We welcome the accelerated development of AI led by Epic's developers, who are the visionaries and creative drivers behind everything," Jake Jones, Epic's director of communications, told Bloomberg in a statement.

The site added that Epic's push for a project that appears to rely heavily on artificial intelligence has left many of its projects "stunned." News of the rescheduling of Star Wars and Marvel's shooters follows another report from Bloomberg earlier this year that suggested Epic was working on a spin-off shooter featuring Disney characters. It was said to be similar to Embark Studio's Arc Raiders at the time.

Just moments before the news about Epic's AI came out, Tim Sweeney, the studio's founder and CEO, posted on X/Twitter saying that the studio had a "big shift coming up." He added that they "drive developers to new tools for maximum AI acceleration."

"The goal is not to do the same things with fewer people, but to make everyone here able to make more and better things and bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal," he continued. "Our simpler goal is to survive the AI revolution, help other developers do the same, and in turn produce better code and content faster," Sweeney said in a later post.

"The biggest change will be much faster time from having an idea to testing it," he said in another post. "This will be great for gameplay, as most of the recent AAA failures can be attributed to game systems going too far through their development stages without being able to playtest."

Does AI-generated content in games bother you?

Disney bought a $1.5 billion stake in the Fortnite developer in 2024, cementing their relationship at the time. Outside of more crossovers in Epic's still-popular battle royale-centric video game, it looks like we're yet to see the extent of their collaboration. Meanwhile, Disney has recently denied claims that it is interested in buying the game studio outright.