A Fortnite executive addressed the elephant in the room at a recent Gamescom Latam panel — yes, Epic is experimenting with AI tools, and no, the goal isn’t to cut headcount.
Stephanie Arnette, senior external development manager on Fortnite, was direct about it: “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.” She gave a concrete example — something that currently takes an individual ten hours might get done significantly faster with AI assistance. She also mentioned the technology is being explored in art production, though didn’t go into specifics.
Arnette made one other point worth noting. Epic isn’t planning to bring in outside AI tools or let third-party vendors plug their systems into Fortnite’s pipeline. “There really is no opening for a partner to try to put their AI info or tooling into ours,” she said, adding that any AI implementation would come from Epic’s own direction.
The comments follow a familiar pattern across the industry. Sony recently made similar noises about AI being central to the future of game development, currently working alongside Bandai Namco in the generative AI space. Sony recently made similar noises about AI being central to the future of game development — the company is also navigating its own costly missteps as it figures out where to invest next.
Whether “efficiency” actually protects jobs or simply delays the harder conversation is something the industry hasn’t fully answered yet. For now, Epic’s position is the same one most large studios are landing on publicly: AI is a tool, not a replacement.
