An Epic Games senior manager working on Fortnite claims “the goal [of AI use at the company] is to make us more efficient” and dismisses the idea that the software “is going to take all our jobs.” As AI tools are becoming more sophisticated, the discussion surrounding how they can, or should, be utilized in game development has become more common. Fortnite creator Epic Games is often at the center of this conversation, with CEO Tim Sweeney frequently putting forward his stance on AI use.
Sweeney often chooses social media as his platform of choice when making public his opinions on the use of AI, particularly when it comes to games and online gaming platforms. The Fortnite executive told Valve to drop AI disclosures from Steam, claiming the requirement “makes no sense for game stores.” Unlike its main competitor, Sweeney’s own online storefront, Epic Games Store, doesn’t obligate developers to divulge AI use to potential customers and players. This has led people to conclude that Epic Games is not opposed to AI use in games and speculate about how it is used at the company.
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Fortnite Executive Says AI Isn’t “Going to Take All Our Jobs”
Speaking at a panel during Gamescom Latam, Stephanie Arnette, senior external development manager for Fortnite, claims that Epic Games has been experimenting with AI, but that it won’t be used to replace workers. “Epic has been exploring different AI tooling that we can use to help support our games,” she says. “I know everyone’s biggest fear is, ‘Oh my god, AI is going to take all our jobs.’ That’s not our goal. The goal is to make us more efficient.” This statement comes after Epic Games’ employees suffered mass layoffs in March, with over 1,000 people reportedly being affected. Sweeney said that the layoffs were caused by operating costs outpacing revenue and that the reduction in staff was necessary to stabilize the company.
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While Arnette initially discusses the use of AI at Epic Games in terms of task efficiency, saying that there is a compelling case for AI software when it speeds up laborious tasks, she goes on to admit that it is being explored “in the art realm as well.” She doesn’t go into specifics on this subject, but art and other creative processes use a very different type of AI compared to the tools that are meant to improve productivity. Generative AI, which can produce text, images, voices, and videos, is the most controversial form these tools take, with a vast number of gamers and developers speaking out against gen AI use. Fortnite players accused Epic Games of using generative AI to create art assets in December 2025, but the company vehemently denied these assertions.
Despite Epic Games denying the use of AI to generate art assets in Fortnite, the company has integrated AI in other ways. In September 2025, it began integrating an AI chatbot into Fortnite‘s customer support so that players who had issues in the game would have to interact with the software before they are able to contact a human support assistant. Epic Games is far from the first company to put chatbots at the forefront of customer support. As AI tools improve in quality, ever more online storefronts are using chatbots as the first response to customers who are encountering issues, making it more difficult for them to contact support staff.
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However, Fortnite‘s AI use goes beyond chatbot support. Last year, Fortnite Lego Brick Life integrated two AI-powered NPCs that players could interact with. These NPCs could be asked questions, and they would reply with AI-generated responses. One of these was Darth Vader, with voice lines generated to mimic the character’s original voice actor, the late James Earl Jones. The implementation was controversial as players found ways to get the chatbot to say unsavory things in a way that resembled the actor’s iconic voice. The incident led actor’s union SAG-AFTRA to file a lawsuit against Epic Games over its use of AI.
- Date Founded
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January 15, 1991
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Cary, North Carolina, USA
Source: GamesRadar+
