Tuesday, October 13

Epic goes AI-first on a Disney shooter as Blizzard courts old goodwill

Gaming Editorial

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Continuing · Generative AI in games and modding
Epic reportedly orders 'AI-first' production on Disney's Marvel and Star Wars shooter
Rock Paper Shotgun (Edwin Evans-Thirlwell) · Oct 13
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the project and an internal message from the game's director, reports that Epic has told the team behind an unannounced Marvel and Star Wars shooter to work 'AI first'. The director is quoted as saying there will be 'no more hand-written code' and that art should be 'generated with full AI workflows'. The team is reportedly being pushed toward heavier use of Anthropic's Claude. The game was allegedly due in March and is now delayed indefinitely. Rock Paper Shotgun's Edwin Evans-Thirlwell notes it is unclear whether this is the Disney extraction shooter Bloomberg reported in April, which was slated for November.
Epic has not confirmed the account. Communications director Jake Jones offered a softer framing: 'AI-accelerated development' led by Epic developers. Evans-Thirlwell sets the story against Epic's wider generative AI bet, including its use in the next Unreal Engine and an AI-voiced Darth Vader in Fortnite. He also points to the company's layoffs of over 1,000 people this year and Disney's $1.5 billion stake from February. His own view is that much corporate AI work is about being seen to use the tools for investors, and he doubts the approach given Epic's failed Fortnite metaverse push.

Counterpoint: Epic and other AI-tool advocates would say the tools speed up work that developers still direct, as Jones's statement puts it, and that the reported mandate may be garbled or aspirational. Tim Sweeney has argued that developers should be free to use AI without being stigmatised.

Previously: On 2026-10-09 Aftermath questioned an AI-assisted Pride and Prejudice platform in Fortnite, against Stephenson's claim that AI augments creativity. — Friday October 9 edition.

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Continuing · Generative AI in games and modding
Dwarf Fortress creator Tarn Adams is upbeat about everything except generative AI
GamesIndustry.biz (Lewis Packwood) · Oct 12
GamesIndustry.biz's Lewis Packwood profiles Tarn Adams, who has worked on the procedurally generated Dwarf Fortress with his brother Zach since 2002. Packwood describes him as perhaps the happiest man in gaming, still more enthusiastic about the project than ever. The headline sets that cheerfulness against Adams's dislike of generative AI. Only the opening of the piece was available for this summary, so the details of his objections are not reproduced here. It adds a developer voice from a studio known for hand-built, rule-driven simulation to the argument over AI in games.

Counterpoint: Developers and publishers who use generative tools would say a distinction exists between rule-based procedural generation, which Adams practises, and AI models, and that studios should judge the latter on results. Epic is one such company, as covered above.

Previously: On 2026-10-09 Aftermath questioned an AI-assisted Pride and Prejudice platform in Fortnite, against Stephenson's claim that AI augments creativity. — Friday October 9 edition.

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Zero Company and Galactic Racer are making Star Wars fun again
Aftermath (Luke Plunkett) · Oct 12
Aftermath's Luke Plunkett argues that Star Wars has had a poor few years, citing the reception of Episode IX, a run of underbaked TV shows and high-profile cancellations. He blames Disney's management first, and EA's limited run of mediocre, exclusive games second. In his view Zero Company, which he has written about before, and now Galactic Racer have reversed that. He calls Galactic Racer a very good roguelite racing game that draws on Burnout, F-Zero and Wipeout, with Burnout-style takedowns, a strong sense of speed, and writing, animation and voice work above what the genre usually gets.
He praises its tone, closer to F-Zero GX and Wacky Races than to the series' heavier stories, with a cast of comic aliens the player must chat with between races. His conclusion is that Star Wars should be fun, and that Disney can cancel films and shows as long as games like these keep arriving.

Counterpoint: Fans who see Star Wars as primarily a film and TV saga might say games cannot offset weakness in its core storytelling. Others would note that Disney, the licensor Plunkett criticises, also approves these games.

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Does BlizzCon 2026 mean 'old Blizzard' is back?
PC Gamer (Kwanghee Woo) · Oct 12
PC Gamer's Kwanghee Woo says BlizzCon 2026 felt like a return to old ambition and scale, with World of Warcraft: Forever, Diablo 5 and a StarCraft open-world shooter announced. He argues the most meaningful moment was the opening reveal: president Johanna Faries announcing that Heroes of the Storm, in maintenance mode since 2022, would get Xal'atath as its first new hero in six years. The audience reaction was tepid. Woo reads leading with it as a conciliatory choice, a sign Blizzard still wants to honour an implicit pact not to abandon a game before its community.
He adds that Warcraft 3: Reforged, which launched badly in 2020, received a full-length $30 DLC campaign, Forsaken Kingdom, over BlizzCon weekend. Reception is mixed on price but mostly positive on content. He sees a limit in Diablo 3, which has had no new content since 2023 even as Diablo 1, Immortal and Diablo 4 get anniversary updates. His verdict is that the old Blizzard is not back and may never be, but that a heart still beats there, with developers seizing chances to be the good guy.

Counterpoint: The cynical reading, which Woo acknowledges, is that nothing has changed and each legacy-game decision simply passed a cost-benefit test. Fans of Diablo 3 would add that the neglect of that game undercuts the 'never give up on a game' claim.