Epic Games has confirmed that it makes use of Generative AI to create new skins and locations for its massively popular multiplayer game Fortnite.
In a new video published on the official Unreal Engine YouTube channel, Epic confirmed that multiple GenAI tools are used to create the game’s content. This comes after the game’s controversial Chapter 7 update which included multiple AI-generated assets.
Despite fan complaints, Epic is appearing to continue using AI following mass layoffs earlier this year. In the video, Epic shows that human-made sketches are turned into 3D scenes in Blender by 3D artists, and then fed into AI tools to generate multiple different takes.
The video confirmed that Epic is making use of “evolving technologies like Nano Banana and GPT Image”. For example, one part of the video shows an artist creating a character then asking an AI tool to make the design look like Fortnite art instead of their own style, which they then clean up by hand.
“The design is king,” the video says. “AI can generate generic stuff all day, but that’s not what we’re doing here. It just skips ahead in the timeline so [the artist] can focus on honing in on the design and crafting it exactly how he wants it to be.”
The video then shows a developer creating a 3D scene based on their concept art while then using AI to generate multiple new forms. This includes altering the time of day, making the scene take place during a meteor shower, and swapping out the clothes on a character.
“At every stage of the process, artists continue to polish and refine,” the video says. “But now, teams can revise faster so artists have more opportunities to explore.”
The video shows that many of these processes still involve heavy human-made assets with AI as an assistance. For example, one scene shows a new point-of-interest being made, a diner with its own mascot, which the AI ends up bungling in multiple aspects. “The results are good but not perfect 1:1,” the video says. “That’s why it’s a starting point and not a finish line.”
Epic claims that the current AI workflow sees “continual reviews before anything makes it into our game”, which may be the case now. However, as we mentioned earlier, prior updates for Fortnite that have made use of obvious AI assets have exhibited multiple issues, showing that the process is not flawless.
AI has obviously become a major point of contention for many releases. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s heavy AI use proved massively controversial, and game studios such as Larian have been pushed to boycott AI tools by fans.
In an interview with FRVR earlier this month, OG Halo trilogy artist Eddie Smith, who worked with AI tools on the Las Vegas Sphere Wizard of Oz project, explained that studios over-relying on AI are in for a “rude awakening”.
“The AI cannot be precise to what the production needs,” the iconic game artist said. “Your artistic decisions have to be precisely calibrated for the gameplay loop. What is the game design? What is your gameplay? If it’s not going into the gameplay, don’t put it there. AI doesn’t know that. It couldn’t possibly know that. You could even feed, you could somehow tell the AI your entire gameplay design. It’s still not going to get it.”
