Epic Games reportedly tells a team: no more handwritten code

What happened: According to Bloomberg, which reviewed an internal message, Epic delayed its Marvel and Star Wars shooter games and told the team to go AI first. A director reportedly wrote "no more handwritten code" with all art generated by AI, and staff were pointed to tools like Anthropic's Claude. Some staff reportedly reacted with shock, and the game has no new release date. Tim Sweeney posted that a huge pivot is underway in video games.
The claim: Epic says its developers lead the AI work, and Sweeney says the goal is more and better work, not fewer employees.
Austin's take: Austin wonders whether AI mandates will spread to other industries as competitors move faster and cheaper. He floats a future where humans focus on creative ideas while machines handle engineering, or even one where human made games become a boutique product.
Why it matters: A major studio betting a flagship Disney game on machine written code and art is a real test of whether AI first development works at scale.
What to do: If you write software, get comfortable directing and reviewing AI generated code, since mandates like this may show up at more companies.
Not confirmed yet: This is based on Bloomberg's reporting of an internal message, not an official public policy announcement.

The Loop