Update: Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has publicly pushed back on reports of internal delays.
In a post on X, Sweeney wrote: “The anonymous quote is BS. The speed of Disney and Epic collaborations like Darth Vader has been awesome and is around 10x the ordinary speed of media company dealings in this business. We even provided a statement to the writer of this article saying so, but they chose not to print it.”
Below is the original story as published prior to Sweeney’s response:
Disney’s Fortnite plans are stalled, and it’s all because of Darth Vader swearing and fan-made Spider-Man dances.
In early 2024, Disney and Epic Games revealed a game-changing partnership: Disney invested $1.5 billion to build a permanent Disney universe inside Fortnite. The project promised more than skins or cameos, as it was billed as a massive, social, creative world using Unreal Engine.
The plan was to create a virtual Disney World where players could hang out, shop, and build their adventures. Company properties like Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and Avatar would each get their own themed island. The development progressed fast, and by early 2025, the project hit a stable build.
Fans were excited. Internally, however, not everything was moving smoothly.
Disney x Fortnite universe delayed due to AI and user content concerns
According to a Washington Post report, behind the scenes, Disney has grown uneasy about user-generated content. The project, nicknamed “Bulldog,” is still active, but momentum has stalled.
Some Epic staff blame Disney’s slow decision-making, with too many departments needing to approve each step.
The Darth Vader AI experiment made matters worse. In May 2025, Epic released an AI-powered Vader using a voice model approved by James Earl Jones’s estate. It could talk, squad up, and respond to players in real time.
Within minutes of release, players made it curse using clever prompts. Epic fixed the issue quickly, but it left an impression. According to reports, 10 million players interacted with Vader during that short window.
SAG-AFTRA filed a charge shortly after. They accused Epic of replacing union voice work with AI without negotiation.
Despite the backlash, Epic expanded its AI plans. At the June 2025 State of Unreal, they introduced the Persona Device, giving every creator tools to build their own AI characters.
Disney execs have since raised major concerns. If someone makes a Spider-Man dance that goes viral, it is unclear who owns it. That lack of clarity has put the brakes on creative features Disney once supported.
The Disney universe is still targeting Fall 2026. But with legal pressure and internal caution, that date is looking shaky.
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