Fortnite's Darth Vader Debuts Epic's AI NPCs

After the launch of the AI Darth Vader feature in Fortnite, Epic has revealed its intention to enable players to design their own AI-driven NPCs within the expansive battle royale game.

The AI Darth Vader was introduced to Fortnite last month. This character can perform songs for you, freely join or leave squads, engage in intelligent conversations with players, deliver spontaneous lines, recap key moments from gameplay, and alert players to imminent dangers.

Darth Vader is voiced by the legendary James Earl Jones, who passed away in September 2024 at age 93. This AI rendition of his voice, utilizing Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model and ElevenLabs' Flash v2.5 technology, is authorized by the Jones family.

Shortly after the feature became available, Fortnite players found ways to prompt Vader into uttering phrases strongly linked to the Dark Side, including profanity. Epic addressed this with a swift update.

The AI Darth Vader appears to have been merely a starting point. At State of Unreal 2025, Epic announced upcoming tools within Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) that will allow creators to develop their own AI-powered non-player characters. A live demonstration showed how the new Persona Device will let creators design characters with distinct personalities for players to interact with. Creators can choose their NPC's voice style, speech delivery, and defining traits.

“We are building on our experience with Darth Vader and making the core technology available to the creator community,” stated Epic.

In related news, major franchises are coming to UEFN. This includes Squid Game arriving on June 27, along with Avatar: The Last Airbender, and official Star Wars features, templates, and assets. Lego's brick-by-brick building mechanic will also launch in UEFN on June 17, accompanied by the new LEGO Bloom Tycoon template.

In other announcements from State of Unreal 2025, Epic and CD Projekt showcased an impressive Unreal Engine 5 technical demo for The Witcher 4.