- Epic Games has delayed its unannounced Marvel and Star Wars extraction shooter, which was originally targeting a March 2027 launch, according to Bloomberg.
- The delay stems from Epic underestimating the headcount and timeline the project would require.
- Developers have been told to adopt an “AI-first” production model — with internal directives reportedly stating “no more hand-written code” and ordering all art to be generated using AI workflows.
- AI tools being used reportedly include Anthropic’s Claude for code generation.
- Epic CEO Tim Sweeney defended the push publicly, calling it a “huge pivot” aimed at maximum AI acceleration across all teams using Unreal Engine.
- The game is part of Epic’s broader multi-game partnership with Disney, born from Disney’s $1.5 billion investment in Epic back in 2024.
- No new release date has been announced following the delay.
Epic Games has found itself at the centre of a major gaming industry story, and it touches on two of the most combustible topics in games right now: licensed IP and AI. A new Bloomberg report reveals that Epic’s unannounced Marvel and Star Wars shooter has been delayed — and the studio’s response has been to tell its developers to stop writing code by hand and generate all their art using AI tools. The reaction across the gaming industry, from developers and fans alike, has been exactly what you’d expect.
What Is This Game?
The project is a multiplayer extraction shooter featuring characters from Marvel and Star Wars — two of Disney’s most commercially dominant franchises. It’s being developed as part of the wide-ranging partnership between Epic Games and Disney that took shape after Disney made a $1.5 billion equity investment in Epic back in 2024. That deal was framed as the foundation for building a new “games and entertainment universe” drawing on Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar, and more.
The game has been described as being in the vein of extraction shooters like Arc Raiders — a PvPvE format where squads fight enemies, collect resources, and race to an extraction point before being eliminated. The Marvel and Star Wars branding would bring iconic characters into that framework, which on paper is a compelling concept given how well the mashup energy of Fortnite has always worked for Epic. The shooter was reportedly the first full game set to emerge from the Disney partnership and had been targeting a March 2027 launch before the delay was reported.
Why Was It Delayed?
According to Bloomberg’s report — sourced from people familiar with the project — progress has been significantly slower than expected. Epic underestimated both how many staff members the project would need and how long development would realistically take. These are problems that aren’t unique to Epic, but they sting harder when you’re sitting on a Disney license with Marvel and Star Wars branding attached and need to hit a target date.
The delay itself is only part of the story. The more notable part is how Epic has responded to falling behind: rather than simply extending the timeline and adding resources, the studio has pivoted to an AI-first development model as its solution.
The AI-First Mandate — What Is Epic Doing?
An internal memo from a director on the project, reviewed by Bloomberg, told staff in clear terms: “No more hand-written code.” The directive also stated that all art for the game would be “generated with full AI workflows.” Developers have reportedly been instructed to use AI tools — including Anthropic’s Claude — for code generation throughout the production pipeline.
Epic’s official position came from communications director Jake Jones, who told Bloomberg: “We’re embracing AI-accelerated development, led by Epic developers who are the visionaries and creative drivers for everything we do.” The framing positions Epic’s human developers as creative directors rather than line-level coders — essentially arguing that AI is handling execution while people handle vision.
CEO Tim Sweeney doubled down publicly on October 12, calling it a “huge pivot underway” at Epic aimed at “maximum AI acceleration” and framing the Disney shooter as a test case for AI workflows that will benefit all teams using Unreal Engine. Sweeney has been one of the gaming industry’s most vocal proponents of generative AI and has previously criticised digital storefronts like Steam for requiring disclosure of AI use in games.
Developer Concerns and Industry Reaction
Not everyone inside or outside the studio is on board with the approach. Bloomberg’s reporting notes that staff working on the project have raised questions about how errors in AI-generated code and art will be caught and corrected, and some have expressed doubt that the initiative will succeed. The combination of a licensed Disney project — where Marvel and Star Wars brand guidelines are notoriously strict about character accuracy down to exact proportions, colour palettes, and design details — and an AI art pipeline is one that many developers have flagged as a particularly high-risk combination. Marvel and Star Wars fans notice inconsistencies in character design immediately, as Square Enix learned the hard way with the Kingdom Hearts Collection artwork controversy earlier this year.
Bloomberg’s report also described this as the first attempt by a major video game company to build a title using AI as the primary foundation of its development pipeline — not a supplementary tool, but the core method. That framing has drawn significant attention from across the games industry, where the conversation around AI has generally centred on using it as an assistant to human developers rather than a replacement for their output.
What This Means for the Epic-Disney Partnership
The Disney investment in Epic was always a long game — not one shooter but an entire ecosystem. Bloomberg’s earlier reporting on the project noted that Epic is working on multiple Disney-branded games as part of the partnership, with the Marvel and Star Wars extraction shooter being the first out of the gate. Epic’s senior communications director previously pushed back on leaked details earlier in the year, saying reports were “not reflective of the ambitions of the Disney collaboration” and reiterating the goal of building a “transformational new games and entertainment universe.”
The delay and the AI pivot complicate that picture. There’s no new release date for the shooter, meaning the timeline for the first game from one of gaming’s biggest potential partnerships is now an open question. Tim Sweeney’s public confidence in the AI-first approach suggests Epic is committed to this direction regardless, but the practical questions about quality control on licensed IP remain unanswered.
For Epic, a company already dealing with the aftermath of significant layoffs following slower-than-expected Fortnite engagement, getting this Disney partnership right is genuinely important. The stakes are high, and the approach they’ve chosen to meet those stakes is about as controversial as any move they could have made.
For fans keeping up with the broader gaming landscape this month, our coverage of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls and its Year 1 DLC roster covers another major Marvel gaming announcement from this week. And for those watching what Xbox has in the pipeline for its exclusive lineup heading into 2027, our breakdown of Clockwork Revolution as Xbox’s next permanent console exclusive is worth reading alongside this story for context on how different publishers are approaching big-budget game development right now. For the holiday gaming calendar, Best Buy’s midnight launch for Zelda: Ocarina of Time on November 5 is one of the most anticipated events of the season.
