Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney believes that small teams can quickly use AI prompts to create video games on the scale of Nintendo’s masterpiece The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Talked to Passthecontroller at Epic’s unrealistic 2025 event (which revealed that CD Projekt revealed the surprising The Witcher 4 Tech Demo), Sweeney stated that the AI prompt was a “basic part” of the game engine, and that “a whole new genre of gaming genre was invented or not practical.”
“All major advancements in technology have led to the rise of new games,” Sweeney explained.
“I remember that 3D games were now possible. After that, Doom and Wolfenstein introduced the 3D shooter game. The Battle Royal genre itself was only possible if the hardware and engine had enough performance.
“AI characters that give endless dialogue possibilities with a truly simple setup for creators means that small teams can create games with huge amounts of characters and immeasurable interactive worlds. A team of 10 people build a game like Zelda Breath of Wild, they just write an outline of all the characters.
Of course, Sweeney’s enthusiasm about AI is no secret, and all epic games exist. Ai Darth Vader hit Fortnite last month The first of the comprehensive battle royale. He can serenade you, join the team and leave freely, respond wisely to players, issue improvisational dialogues, summarise gameplay events, and warn players if something is about to go down.
Darth Vader is voiced by the distinctive James Earl Jones. He passed away in September 2024 93 years old. His voice for this AI version, powered by Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash model and ElevenLabs’ Flash V2.5, will be used with permission from the Jones family.
This sparked debate about the ethics of the generation AI, especially when it comes to NPCs such as Darth Vader, who revive the voices of dead actors. However, Sweeney believes that AI technology is ultimately a net profit for society despite some drawbacks.
“I think AI is ultimately a technology that allows human creators to create things more efficiently,” he said. “I think that’s a good thing. It’s a shame that the emergence of modern AI is tainted by companies simply tearing a ton of content from other companies and individuals on the web. But as a basic level of technology, it needs to be added to our capabilities and increase the enforceability.
“It’s certainly true that allowing indie teams to build bigger and better games means that AAA teams can further refine their incredible and huge games, and that’s what they can further refine. So I think there’s a massive evolution because everyone scrambles to master new skills to figure out what’s possible here.
Not caught up in a backlash against Ai Darth Vader, Epic has announced plans to allow people to create their own AI NPCs in Fortnite.
Wesley is the news director for Passthecontroller. Find him on @wyp100’s Twitter. You can contact Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
