Epic Games Delays Disney Shooter, Orders Shift to AI-First Workflow

Epic Games has pushed back the launch of its collaborative video game project with Disney, according to reporting from GamesIndustry.biz. The postponed title is a multiplayer shooter intended to incorporate prominent characters from both the Star Wars and Marvel franchises.

Along with the production delay, leadership at Epic has instructed development teams to adopt an "AI first" production model, per the GamesIndustry.biz report. The strategic pivot reflects a broader mandate within the company to integrate artificial intelligence tools more aggressively across its creative pipelines.

## Automated Production Mandate

The mandate marks a notable operational adjustment for Epic, which has spent recent years expanding its Unreal Engine ecosystem and positioning its platform as a central hub for major entertainment brands. Moving toward an automated asset and game-design framework indicates an effort to restructure how the studio builds complex interactive environments.

The partnership between Disney and Epic remains one of the largest corporate alliances bridging Hollywood intellectual property and interactive entertainment. Disney previously invested heavily in Epic to establish an interconnected digital universe powered by the studio's proprietary engine.

For Hollywood Tomorrow, the delay underscores how major game publishers are attempting to counterbalance soaring development budgets and extended production cycles by leaning on automated technologies. Whether generative and machine-learning systems can accelerate blockbuster IP development without creating quality bottlenecks remains a central test for the sector.

Epic has not yet disclosed a revised release window for the Marvel and Star Wars shooter, nor has it detailed specific milestones for its new production pipeline.