Fortnite had a very rocky launch with its AI-powered NPC, Darth Vader, last month. The battle royale's use of artificial intelligence may not be stopping there, either. Epic Games has unveiled a new AI-powered NPC Persona device, which will serve as a way for Fortnite Creative developers to add more interactive character elements to their maps.
While we don't have details yet, this new tool could give Fortnite Creative developers the ability to add customizable NPCs, who can talk to their players in real time, to their experiences. Epic Games officially unveiled the tool during their Unreal Fest 2025 presentation in Orlando, Florida.
An AI-powered version of Darth Vader was added to Fortnite and its Star Wars-themed season late last month. The NPC, complete with a Google-developed AI model trained on voice clips recorded by James Earl Jones, could actively respond to player comments and commands. This involved the character recounting its history in the Star Wars universe, commenting on in-game mechanics, and making some of the most inappropriate and offensive comments you could imagine.
Online compilations of this version of Darth Vader cussing and making sexual comments spread across the internet quickly before Epic Games patched the NPC, limiting what sort of comments it could make. Vader will be live within Fortnite until the end of the current season on June 7.
AI is one of the hottest topics in the games and tech industries currently. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that AI will be able to build games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild within the next few years.
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Works exactly like the Darth Vader AI but for UEFN map makers. pic.twitter.com/Vzq0nGqcp8
— iFireMonkey (@iFireMonkey) June 3, 2025
While we don't have details yet, this new tool could give Fortnite Creative developers the ability to add customizable NPCs, who can talk to their players in real time, to their experiences. Epic Games officially unveiled the tool during their Unreal Fest 2025 presentation in Orlando, Florida.
An AI-powered version of Darth Vader was added to Fortnite and its Star Wars-themed season late last month. The NPC, complete with a Google-developed AI model trained on voice clips recorded by James Earl Jones, could actively respond to player comments and commands. This involved the character recounting its history in the Star Wars universe, commenting on in-game mechanics, and making some of the most inappropriate and offensive comments you could imagine.
Online compilations of this version of Darth Vader cussing and making sexual comments spread across the internet quickly before Epic Games patched the NPC, limiting what sort of comments it could make. Vader will be live within Fortnite until the end of the current season on June 7.
AI is one of the hottest topics in the games and tech industries currently. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that AI will be able to build games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild within the next few years.
Source