Oh Epic Games, what have you become? An AI shell of your former self. Please make it all stop.
You may have read in the news (Paywall) recently how Epic Games delayed some Disney project, and told developers it will be an “AI first” production now. According to that report, Epic told developers that there will be “No more hand-written code”.
This is backed up by CEO Tim Sweeney, who posted on X/Twitter:
“We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic, moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration.
The aim isn’t to do the same stuff with fewer people, but to enable everyone here to build MORE and BETTER stuff, and to bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal.”
Sweeney seems to think these AI tools will be a big boost for game developers (X/Twitter):
“The games we’ve long wanted, which didn’t exist because they’d cost several times more to make than they’d earn back, will soon become possible. As will the games developers wanted to build, but couldn’t with the resources available. It’ll be a new golden age of gaming.”
That’s not all though. There’s the new “vibe coded” Epic Games Launcher Preview, which was initially quite hilariously broken but surprisingly is actually getting better.
If you thought all that was bad enough, they’re now running a competition for Unreal Engine developers of who can slop the most with AI. As posted about from the official Unreal Engine X/Twitter account:
Spot the issue? They have to be trolling the internet at this point, baiting people into responding, because it’s basically free advertising for them. Look at me writing this! You got me! I’ve been suckered into the discourse on it too.
How long will it be before the massive pivot back away from AI? There’s going to be a big bubble bursting at some point, especially when more CEOs begin to realise just how expensive it is to keep forcing AI everywhere, with some pretty lacklustre results. But of course before that, they’ll end up laying off even more staff just like they did before.
What a shame to see what Epic Games has become. From some of my core gaming memories blasting through Unreal Tournament to seeing them advertise an AI generation competition with a 6 fingered hand. I really miss the old times now.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
