Epic Games is embracing artificial intelligence across its development work, including Unreal Engine 6, Fortnite and the Epic Games Store launcher. The company says its engineers are using AI as an iterative development tool rather than allowing it to build the engine without human direction.
How Epic says it is using AI
Marcus Wassmer, Epic’s executive vice-president of development, said the company is “vibe-coding” parts of its technology. In practical terms, engineers may no longer write most of the code by hand, but they continue to guide the tools towards the required architecture and final result.
Wassmer said Epic is not creating the engine in a single pass. Instead, the team is repeatedly working with AI while keeping new features within its required memory, performance and scalability limits.
He added that Epic is more worried about moving too slowly than it is about scepticism surrounding AI. The position represents a notable change from roughly a year earlier, when Epic chief executive Tim Sweeney denied that the company was using AI for Unreal Engine updates. His later confirmation can be read in his earlier statement about Unreal Engine AI use.
Developers question the approach
The idea that a major new version of one of the games industry’s most widely used engines could be heavily “vibe-coded” has prompted concern among developers. Critics have questioned whether Epic’s engineers can fully understand and maintain systems produced through this process. Some have also argued that developers could use similar tools to make their own engines instead of paying Epic’s substantial licensing fees.
For teams building games, the issue is not simply whether AI can produce working code. Long-term maintenance, predictable performance, security and the ability to diagnose problems are especially important when an engine supports large productions and live-service games. These considerations also matter to anyone following the technology behind modern arcade and gaming news.
The Epic Games Store launcher experiment
Earlier this month, Epic announced a redesigned Epic Games Store launcher created with the same AI-led approach. The company presented it as faster, more responsive and visually refreshed compared with the existing launcher.
Online reactions soon included clips showing the launcher producing incorrect results, while another user claimed the new software had bricked their PC. Epic said the launcher started faster than Steam, but Valve released a Steam update shortly afterwards that removed that claimed advantage. Sweeney subsequently confirmed that Epic was using AI tools to develop Unreal Engine code.
Sweeney’s wider AI position
Sweeney has repeatedly promoted AI in recent months, saying the technology could usher in a “golden age of gaming”. He has also criticised Steam’s requirement for AI-content disclosures, calling the policy a “political act” that limits opportunity for developers. The debate remains unsettled, particularly for players who want to know whether a game’s writing and art were made by people or generated by a language model.
Epic has also delayed an unannounced game involving Marvel and Star Wars characters while it moves towards an “AI-first” development strategy. One reported direction was “no more handwritten code”, while the game’s art was reportedly intended to use complete AI workflows.
For Australian arcade operators and enthusiasts, Epic’s plans are another sign that AI is becoming part of the wider games-development conversation. The effect on future game engines, tools and content pipelines will be worth watching, especially as developers balance faster production against reliability and creative control. For practical hardware projects, RETROCADE’s arcade machine buying guide, arcade parts and DIY arcade kits remain focused on the physical side of the hobby.
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