Vampire Survivors studio Poncle is “reviewing” its Fortnite collaboration after the State of Unreal show and Epic’s focus on generative AI

During last evening’s State of Unreal showcase, Epic shared details about several upcoming Fortnite tie-ins, including Control Resonant, Sonic Crossworlds Racing, Phantom Blade Zero, and the widely praised Vampire Survivors. Yet only a few hours later, Vampire Survivors’ creator Poncle said it was “reviewing” its Fortnite partnership, citing Epic’s use of generative AI.

Poncle made the remark in response to a reddit thread that covers Vampire Survivors’ collaboration with Fortnite. “Given the findings from today about Epic’s generative AI use to craft a range of game assets, including Fortnite characters,” it wrote, “we’re currently ‘assessing’ our collaboration with Fortnite. We’ll let you know if anything changes.”

Poncle didn’t specify which “findings” it meant, but in the middle of last night’s State of Unreal presentation, Epic unveiled an experimental plugin that lets generative AI tools such as Claude work alongside Unreal Engine. “What we’ve shown today would normally take months to build by hand, but with the MCP server and Unreal, our artists pulled it off in just days,” Michael Lentine, senior director in Epic Games’ research and development group, said at the time. “By lowering the technical barrier, you can experiment more often and elevate game quality.”

Poncle could also be reacting to an Epic video that demonstrates how it uses tools such as Nano Banana – described as “a cutting-edge AI image editing model that quickly garnered attention for its remarkable prompt comprehension, consistent character alterations, and scene integrity” – together with Blender and Photoshop to produce “digital art and content”.

Generative AI, of course, remains deeply controversial, bringing with it major ethical and environmental questions. Critics note it’s often more imitative than original, and that it can be trained on artwork without the creator’s permission. Whether these practices conflict with copyright law is still being debated, but other issues are also in focus—especially what AI could mean for jobs, particularly across the gaming industry. Many voice performers, including Jennifer Hale, David Hayter, and Ashly Burch, have voiced concerns about what they see as exploitative uses of the technology. Poncle didn’t spell out exactly why it is starting a “review” following Epic’s announcement, or what actions it might consider afterward, but Eurogamer has contacted the developer for more information.

Back in November of last year, Epic chief Tim Sweeney said it’s no longer reasonable to expect developers to disclose their AI usage, comparing it to asking about their choice of shampoo. “AI will be part of nearly all upcoming production,” he said. Epic is already familiar with generative AI tools. In 2025, the company notoriously recreated James Earl Jones’ voice for Darth Vader using the technology, though it did so with permission from the late actor’s family.

Generative AI is becoming increasingly common throughout the development process. During this month’s Summer Game Fest, it was reported that games like the Crazy Taxi revival and Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis are using generative AI. At the time, a Crystal Dynamics representative told Eurogamer that the Legacy of Atlantis team is using AI tools to “help our teams iterate on ideas faster and more efficiently, while ensuring that all finished content in the final product is created by human hands.”

It remains unclear whether the other Fortnite projects announced by Epic will lead to comparable reconsiderations by their respective studios, especially with the AI debate intensifying again. In April, Phantom Blade Zero’s studio S-Game released a statement criticizing the contentious technology and told its community that “every single piece of content in our game has been crafted by real artists.” The studio also said it “will not utilize AI visual technology that might alter our artists’ original creative vision” for Phantom Blade Zero. But that leaves the question: what does that stance mean for its Fortnite deal?

Eurogamer contacted Sega, Remedy, and S-Game to ask for comments about the studios’ upcoming collaborations with Epic, and will share updates as more details emerge.