State of Unreal 2025: Fortnite Unleashes Epic AI Idea, to let People Make AI NPCs
Following AI Darth Vader's introduction to Fortnite last month, Epic Games and Unreal have unveiled plans to continue the trend at the State of Unreal 2025.
The power of the Dark Side landed in Fortnite last month, bringing the voice of AI James Earl Jones (with familial permissions) to Battle Royale. Darth Vader is powered by Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model and ElevenLabs' Flash v2.5, and the late James Earl Jones' (who passed last September 2024 at the age of 93) voice can be heard in full. While the AI addition wasn't embraced by all fans, Darth Vader does indeed roam the map, sing to players and even narrate what's happening in-game.
It seems AI Darth Vader was just the beginning. At the State of Unreal 2025 presentation, Epic Games unveiled a much bigger initiative—plans to release tools that allow creators to build their own AI-powered NPCs within Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). Demonstrated live on the Unreal main stage, Epic revealed that creators will soon be able to craft responsive AI characters using a new feature called the Persona Device.
With the Persona Device, creators can design characters that players can actually converse with, customizing voice style, tone and personality traits. 'We're taking what we learned from Darth Vader and sharing the underlying technology with the creator community,' Epic said during the presentation. To showcase the tech, Epic introduced an NPC named Mr. Buttons, who delivered sassy, real-time dialogue as programmed, highlighting the potential of this new toolset.
Alongside the Persona Device, Epic also announced a wave of new IP assets for its popular level creation tool. Squid Game content will arrive in Fortnite on June 27 to coincide with the premiere of season three. In addition, creators can look forward to using features, templates and assets from Avatar: The Last Airbender when they drop in UEFN next year. Fortnite LEGO is also expanding, as revealed during the State of Unreal 2025 presentation. A new LEGO Brick Editor is set to launch on June 17, introducing 50 classic brick types in 42 different colours. The update will allow players to build new islands, brick by brick.
The State of Unreal 2025 presentation can be watched on the official Unreal YouTube channel, including a brand new tech demo trailer for The Witcher 4.
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