During Epic Games’ State of Unreal Fest on June 17th, the company confirmed we’re getting a whopping 30 new collabs for Fortnite in the remainder of 2026 alone. Epic also confirmed several of these new crossovers, including collabs with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Control Resonant, Phantom Blade Zero, and the hit indie game Vampire Survivors. However, mere hours after it was first announced, at least one of these crossovers is now at risk of getting cancelled.
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Along with info on the future of Fortnite, Epic Games also detailed its hopes for the future of Unreal Engine. Specifically, Epic confirmed that it’s going to lean into Generative AI in a big way with Unreal Engine 6. Shortly after this information broke, Poncle’s official Reddit account shared that the developer is currently reviewing its collaboration with Fortnite. And from the sounds of it, Poncle is heavily leaning towards severing ties with Epic.
Poncle Strongly Hints at Backing Out of Vampire Survivors x Fortnite Collab Over gen AI
Naturally, fans took to sharing the news about a Vampire Survivors collab in the r/VampireSurvivors Subreddit shortly after Fortnite revealed it. It’s in response to this news post that the official Poncle Reddit account shared an update regarding the partnership in the wake of Epic’s gen AI push. Poncle notes it plans to review the collaboration, adding “We’ll let you know if anything moves forward.” That wording seems to strongly suggest that Poncle will not be moving forward with the Fortnite collab. As of now, though, an official cancellation for the crossover has not been confirmed. You can read the full statement from Poncle below:
If you’re wondering just what has Poncle reconsidering, let’s dive into what Epic shared regarding its plans for gen AI moving forward. A recent blog post on the Epic Games website outlines plans for Unreal Engine 6, which will be fully integrated with Unreal Editor for Fortnite. The post confirms that Epic plans to use “LLMs, generative AI models, and tools like Claude and Codex” as core pieces of its game development engine. This is pitched as a way to help developers “build content faster while maintaining the creative control you need.”
This news comes in the wake of a video that outlines how Epic uses generative AI in Fortnite specifically, which was released yesterday via the Unreal Engine YouTube channel. The video confirms that gen AI is being used to create assets for Fortnite, including skins, maps, and more. This isn’t terribly surprising, given the AI Darth Vader debacle from last year. But taken together, these updates show that Epic is embracing generative AI for its games, using Fortnite as a leading example. And indie studios like Poncle may not want their original IP fed into generative AI models as part of this process.
Intellectual property concerns aside, many devs would also prefer not to be linked to any companies that proudly use gen AI in their games. After all, the use of gen AI in game development remains highly controversial, with many gamers turning away from even promising new projects if they include a gen AI disclosure. Epic, however, appears optimistic about how the tech can speed up game development. From the sounds of it, Poncle does not agree. And that could mean that the brief dream of Vampire Survivors skins in Fortnite will never become a reality. This, before we even got concrete details about what the crossover would entail.
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