• by Colin Kirkland , Yesterday

In an effort to “design for the present,” Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney wrote in an X post on Monday that the Fortnite maker is pivoting to prioritize the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

“We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic,” Sweeney wrote, “moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration.”

Sweeney stated that Epic Games is not attempting “do the same stuff with fewer people,” but to utilize AI technology to boost the productivity of the company’s developer teams, specifically through Epic’s Unreal Engine game development platform. 

“Our job, as the provider of tools and technology to much of the industry, is to design for the present that is and the future that will soon be,” Sweeney said, adding that the company’s “modest aim is to survive the AI revolution, help other developers do the same” and emerge with the ability to create better code at a faster rate. 

A recent report from Bloomberg highlights Epic’s AI pivot, which has contributed to the delay of a video-game collaboration with Disney. 

According to the report, Epic told its developers to use more AI tools to finish the game, with instructions to utilize an “AI first” production model made up of tools such as Anthropic’s Claude chatbot. 

One of the game directors informed staff members through an internal message that all handwritten code would be replaced with AI-written code and explained that all art for the game would be “generated with full AI workflows.”

Sweeney has not issued any additional statements with regard to the postponed Disney game.