Fortnite Disney Shooter Delayed: Epic Mandates “No More Hand-Written Code”

Epic Games is delaying its unannounced Disney shooter in Fortnite, a game loaded with Marvel and Star Wars characters, to overhaul its entire production pipeline with generative AI tools. It’s a pretty telling sign of where Epic thinks game development is heading. If you’ve been following the Fortnite-Disney partnership, this Bloomberg report finally gives us a real look at what’s going on behind closed doors.

What Is the Fortnite Disney Shooter Game by Epic

The game hasn’t been officially revealed yet, but sources told Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier that it’s an extraction-style shooter in Fortnite built around characters from both Marvel and Star Wars. If you’re a Fortnite player, you’ve already seen dozens of these characters pop up as skins over the years, the latest being Forsworn Trooper and Mandalorian, so a full game dedicated to them actually makes a lot of sense.

This project connects directly to Disney’s $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games from 2024, where both companies agreed to create a “games and entertainment universe” connected to Fortnite. The idea was that players would be able to interact with Disney IP in a whole new way. This shooter was one of the main things meant to come out of that deal.

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Originally, the game was expected in March 2026. Then it got pushed to November, and then finally, March 2027. Now? No release date at all. The timeline was essentially wiped clean once Epic decided to go all-in on AI, and right now there’s no confirmed window for when you’ll actually be able to play it.

Epic Games Goes All-In on AI Development for Fortnite Disney Shooter

One of the game’s directors reportedly sent an internal message telling the team there would be “no more hand-written code” and that all artwork must be created using AI tools, including Anthropic’s Claude. Humans will be moved to "supervisory/review" roles. That’s a massive ask for a team of professional developers and artists, especially mid-production.

Bloomberg’s sources say not everyone was on board with it (of course!). Some employees reportedly hoped the directive wasn’t meant to be taken literally. But given how much Epic has been pushing AI across its Unreal Engine platform this year, this move feels very real.

Epic’s Communications Director Jake Jones told Bloomberg the studio is “embracing AI-accelerated development, led by Epic developers who are the visionaries and creative drivers.” CEO Tim Sweeney backed that up on X, saying the goal isn’t to do less with fewer people but for everyone to “build MORE and BETTER stuff.” He is "optimistic" about these moves.

Why Does Epic Use AI for Their Games?

Actually, this AI push doesn’t come out of nowhere. Epic laid off over 1,000 employees in March 2026, with Sweeney admitting the company was spending significantly more than they're making. Several Fortnite modes also went offline around the same time. So, using AI tools seems to be part of Epic’s bigger plan to cut costs and get things done faster.

The problem is that not everyone in the gaming industry is on board with AI. GDC’s latest survey found that 52% of game developers think generative AI is bad for the industry. Plus, most developers who use AI rely on it for things like research and coding help, not for making actual game art. That makes Epic’s approach a much bigger deal, since it goes beyond how most developers are using AI right now.

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If you’re a Fortnite fan waiting on this Disney game, the honest answer is you need to wait longer. Possibly much longer. There’s no release date, and rebuilding an entire production pipeline from scratch mid-development is no small thing. But yes, a dedicated Star Wars and Marvel extraction shooter with Fortnite’s scale behind it? That has real potential. I just hope the AI-first approach doesn’t flatten out the creativity and polish that make a game feel worth playing. A great shooter needs a soul, and no AI workflow is going to substitute for developers who care about what they’re building.

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