'Fortnite' To Release AI-Powered NPCs
Summary
Artificial intelligence may not have taken over the world yet, but it's certainly making waves inFortnite. Since the introduction of the Unreal Editor forFortnite(UEFN) in 2023, creators have been able to build, collaborate on fully customizable islands and much more. Now,Epic Gamesis pushing the boundaries even further with AI-powered non-playable characters (NPCs).
In early experimentation of an AI-powered Darth Vader character added in game, the character could interact with players and even join their squad if they gain his loyalty by defeating him. While this was a hit with fans, it also highlighted early issues — most notably, the lack of filtered dialogue, which allowed the AI to be prompted into swearing. Epic Games quickly acknowledged the problem and added parental controls as well.
Now, Epic Games is taking things a step further. At the 'State of Unreal' keynote, the company offered a glimpse intoFortnite'sfuture with the introduction of Mr. Buttons — an AI-powered NPC capable of holding real-time, unscripted conversations. Unlike traditional scripted characters, Mr. Buttons can respond dynamically to player prompts, marking a significant leap toward more immersive, interactive gameplay.
That said, the experience isn't without flaws. To mask processing delays, the AI fills pauses with sounds like 'hmm' or 'umm'— a clever touch at first, but one that quickly becomes repetitive and slightly robotic. Still, the progress is hard to ignore.
Take a look at the Mr. Buttons demo above.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
a day ago
- Forbes
‘Fortnite' Is Bringing Back Its Famous Chun-Li Skin After Almost Three Years
Fortnite With as many skins as Fortnite has amassed since its inception, it can often take years for some to rotate back through the item shop, even with how much it's expanded over time. Now, one of the most coveted skins in Fortnite is returning, Chun-Li, of Street Fighter fame (as well as other fighters Ryu, Blanka, Guile, Sakura and Cammy). It has been almost three years since the original Street Fighter skins introduction, as we last saw the early additions like Chun-Li in August of 2022, making it almost three full years since they've been back in the shop. Now, she and the other skins will be back tonight at shop reset, which takes place at 8 PM EST. Why is the Fortnite community so passionate about Chun-Li specifically? Well, she's just an icon, of course! She's arguably the most famous face of a storied franchise, Street Fighter, even passing up Ryu in popularity. She's got a great, kick-based fighting style that's a lot of fun to play. It's humorous watching her shoot an assault rifle when normally she's a hand-to-hand fighter. There may even be some fans of the film version of the character, where she was played by Ming-Na Wen in the 1994 movie. There's another upcoming Street Fighter movie being made soon, but we don't know who will play Chun-Li there. Fortnite There's just a lot of love for Chun-Li, and fans are celebrating her return. It's heartwarming, really, and if you missed her three years ago, now's the time to scoop her up and pair her with whatever emotes you might think would be funny to use with her. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Fans have been wondering why on earth it took this long for the Capcom skins to return. It's not just the amount of skins, as there are often issues with rights and such among licensed skins that have to be worked out. Deals may have been made for these skins to run for a set period of time, but getting them back in the store may require another such deal, which may or may not be worth it to other parties. But it seems like Epic and Capcom worked something out here, which is good news for Street Fighter fans and Chun-Li lovers everywhere. Get out that wallet and be ready to shell out for her tonight. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Forbes
This Is The Best ‘Fortnite' Skin Ever Made, Here's How To Get It
Fortnite Epic While I have been collecting Fortnite skins on and off for years now, I have not been this impressed with a new offering…ever, really. Fortnite has just revealed a new style for Superman, the key figure in this themed season, and a very obvious marketing connection to the upcoming Superman DCU film on July 8. The original skin is very much modeled on actor David Corenswet, as opposed to a more generic Superman that arrived in the game a long time ago. But this new style? It's the best skin I've ever seen, both an evolution of Fortnite's recent 'pen and ink' skin concept and one that appears to have been drawn for the game by the comic legend himself, Jim Lee, as his signature appears next to the skin. The pen and ink skin harkens back to the original 'Action Comics' days of the first appearance of Superman, which is why the 'S' looks like that. We have seen other pen and ink variants of skins somewhat recently, like Deadpool and Wolverine, and Bucky and Yelena from Thunderbolts. It's always been an awesome style, but this Jim Lee version is easily the best I've seen. I would declare it the best Fortnite skin in the game, personally. Fortnite Epic The catch here is how to get it. You will need to own the battle pass for this season to get all the way to the Superman bonus skin zone. Then, you have to wait until July 11 (three days after the movie premieres) when it and its challenges unlock. Then you will have to get all the way through that mini pass to reach pen and ink Superman in the final spot. So now, he's not simply in the store right now for you to snatch up for a certain amount of V-bucks. In some ways I guess 'earning' him is good, but I mean, you're still paying for the battle pass up front. While Fortnite has become a frequent marketing tool for all manner of projects these days, this Superman-led season, which includes narrative components and genuinely fun super-additions to combat in the game, is going better than most. Add on this all-time great skin, and yes, I think I'm going to have to hop in at least by the time July 11 hits to earn it for myself. Hopefully, I'm up to the task. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Forbes
Fortnite On iPhone Suddenly Stops Working For Many Users
Fortnite was removed from the iPhone and iPad around five years ago and has only just returned — and not in every country. But a new update that's just been released seems to be crashing iPhones running the iOS 26 developer beta. Fortnite Blitz Royale The new version of Fortnite, called Blitz Royale, was released on June 18, and it is one of the first major updates to the game since it returned to the Apple App Store in the U.S. in May 2025. However, as spotted by Zac Hall at 9to5Mac, the new release 'includes an all-new mobile-targeted version of the game called Blitz Royale. Unfortunately, Fortnite also crashes instantly on iOS 26 beta,' it says. It doesn't look like this is the fault of the iOS beta, which you might have expected given that it's an early beta aimed at developers. But before the latest update, Fortnite was working, both on iPhone and iPad on iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. Gamers have been taking to social media to emphatically say that it was working fine before the new Blitz Royale update. The problem is there's no way not to install the new update because Fortnite needs the latest version of the app to be universally installed so everyone is on the same version of the online multiplayer game. It's worth noting that if you are on iOS 18, the new version of the game should be working fine. The new update is targeted at mobile devices, that is, phones and tablets. Blitz Royale is described by Epic Games as a 32-player battle royale mode. 'The best part? Victory can be yours in five minutes or less — perfect for playing on your phone,' according to the game maker. 'Hopefully Epic Games didn't intentionally disable support for iOS 26 and the issue can be resolved soon. For now, the only option is to either downgrade from iOS 26 to iOS 18 or wait for an update to the Fortnite app,' Hall goes on. Assuming this was not a deliberate move to disable the game, and that doesn't seem logical to me, it's likely that Epic is working to fix the problem now, though as yet there's been no acknowledgement of the issue.
