Epic just gave Fortnite creators the same AI tech that powered Darth Vader’s controversial debut.
When Fortnite’s Darth Vader started talking, things went downhill fast. The AI-powered NPC voiced with permission from James Earl Jones’ estate, cursed, glitched, and set off alarms. Union actors cried foul. SAG-AFTRA filed a complaint. And suddenly, Epic was at the center of a digital rights battle.
However, during the State of Unreal showcase, Epic had a different narrative, claiming the Darth Vader AI NPC is an example of Fortnite and Disney “responsibly embracing emerging technologies.”
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So now they’re letting players do it too.
Fortnite will let you create your own AI NPC
During the showcase, Epic dropped the mic: the AI tools behind Vader will soon be in players’ hands.
A live demo showed how creators can build their own AI-powered characters with personalities, voices, responses, and even game-changing behaviors using a device called “Persona” in UEFN (Unreal Editor for Fortnite).
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The star of the demo is an AI-powered NPC, Mr. Buttons, a cosmic weirdo who is clearly based off of Portal’s Wheatley. His one goal was to convince players to press a glowing red button.
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“What brings you to this spectacular catwalk, my friend?” Mr. Buttons asked, oozing surreal charm.
The player hesitated. “What does the button do?”
“A gateway to glory… a symphony of – well, you get the idea,” replied Buttons, dodging the question.
It wasn’t scripted. The conversation ran live, powered by a large language model generating unscripted, reactive dialogue in real-time. Just 20 lines built Mr. Buttons.
The AI didn’t just talk, it changed gameplay too. Pressing the button triggered a cascade of effects designed by the creator. And it wasn’t all chaos.
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Epic emphasized that devs can tightly control NPC personality, tone, and story direction through editable “facts” and prompts in code.
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They pitched it as storytelling evolution. “As game developers, our job is to entertain players, and AI is ultimately a tool to make games more fun and immersive,” they said during the demo. “It enables infinite possibilities for two-way dialogue, just like we saw with Darth Vader.”
In Fortnite’s future, the lines between player and playwright are gone. And your NPC might just insult you, then beg you to blow up the map.
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