An upcoming but as-yet unannounced Disney game in development at Epic Games has been delayed after the studio pushed its developers to implement an “AI-first” approach.
‘No More Hand-Written Code’
In an internal memo shared with Bloomberg, a director on Epic’s Disney game reportedly bluntly told their staff, “No more hand-written code,” and insisted that all the game’s art be “generated with full AI workflows.” Developers have been told to rely on generative AI services such as Anthropic’s Claude to accelerate their workflows.
The Disney game in question is reportedly a first-person shooter featuring Marvel and Star Wars characters that was originally slated for a March 2027 release, but that date has since been scrapped without a new timeline.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, the developers were “stunned” by this order, which was handed down after development on the game had fallen behind schedule. However, they say this was due to Epic misjudging the number of staff and amount of time the Disney game would need.
In response, Epic Games’ communications director Jake Jones stated that the game developer is “embracing AI-accelerated development, led by Epic developers who are the visionaries and creative drivers for everything we do.”
Disney has not yet commented on the story.
Disney and Epic Games Partnership
Disney announced it had invested $1.5 billion in Epic in February 2024, with the two companies partnering on multiple games spanning different genres. This unannounced shooter was due to be the first.
In March 2026, Disney Games, which includes the lucrative Epic Games partnership, was restructured to fall under Entertainment under new chief creative officer Dana Walden. In that same month, Epic Games announced a layoff of 1,000 employees as part of a $500 million cost-saving strategy, but reassured its commitment to the Disney partnership.
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