Poncle, the developer of Vampire Survivors, said on June 17, 2026, that it is reviewing its planned collaboration with Fortnite after Epic Games disclosed its use of generative AI tools in Fortnite character and environment creation as well as Unreal Engine 6 development [1, 2].
Epic Games demonstrated AI-assisted creation of Fortnite assets during its State of Unreal presentation the same day. The company showed how artists used large language models and generative AI plugins, including Claude and Codex, integrated with Unreal Engine 6 to produce content in days instead of months [3, 4, 2]. Michael Lentine of Epic said, "What we've shown here today would take months to build by hand, but in the MCP server and Unreal, our artists were able to make this in days" [3]. Unreal Engine lead Marcus Wassmer added, "For UE6, we see LLMs, generative AI models, and tools like Claude and Codex playing a central role in helping you build content faster while maintaining the creative control you need" [4].
Poncle posted its review announcement on Reddit hours after Epic revealed its generative AI plans and the Vampire Survivors crossover for Fortnite was announced [1, 2]. The company said, "Following today's news about gen AI usage by Epic to create all sort of game assets, including Fortnite characters, we're currently ‘reviewing’ our collaboration with Fortnite. We'll let you know if anything moves forward" [1]. Poncle has not detailed the reasons behind the review or its potential next steps [3, 2].
Epic has faced criticism for its generative AI practices, including ethical concerns and staff layoffs related to AI adoption [3, 4, 5].
The immediate next step is for Poncle to decide on the future of its Fortnite collaboration. The gaming community awaits any updates the developer shares following its review [3, 2].
