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Epic games have taken a big step with the conversational AI when he added A new version of Dark Vader In Fortnite, it could speak with the players. But later this year, any creator using a Unreal publisher for Fortnite (UEFN) will be able to create his own characters fueled by AI with the same underlying technology behind Vader.
In 2025 Unrealone Keynote, Epic revealed that a new tool in the UEFN called the persona ring road will allow anyone to create non -playable characters (NPC) with AI personalities. The company showed it in action with an internal demo where the player must speak to a robot named Mr. Buttons. The executive vice-president of Epic Games, Saxs Persson, said that it had to show how the personalized device can “allow an emerging and responsive game for creators and deeper experiences for players”.
In the code of demo verses (the programming language used in the UEFN), the invite of IA which defines the personality of Mr. Buttons describes it as a “mysterious cosmic entity” with infinite knowledge and curiosity, and that it must respond to the player with “comic finesse”. Mr. Buttons appears as a floating metallic sphere with a shiny eye, and he has a singular goal: to make you press the large red button in the center of a bridge.
You don’t know what’s going on if you press the button, and if you ask Mr. Buttons, this will give you vague but fun answers. If you comply with the robot request, the screen darkens and the demo is immediately complete. But as for the Dark Vader, you can try to direct the conversation in other subjects or even to sound deeply why it wants you to press if the button is misunderstood. He uses filling words like “UMS” and “Ahs” when he generates an answer to your questions.
Epic did not say if this technological demo will be published publicly via Fortnite. But I was able to try it for myself while I was in Orlando, FL to attend at the disposal and Unreal party conference. In fact, I tried it twice just to see how the two experiences would compare themselves.
It was difficult not to think of the Portal series while I was playing – Mr. Buttons’ personality seemed clearly inspired by sarcastic robots in Valve Plid Puzzle Games. But in this case, Mr. Buttons does not follow a script written by a team of writers, and his voice does not come either from a real actor. So his jokes and comments can never be up to Glados or Wheatley from Portal.
That said, I was surprised at the way Mr. Buttons could tease me and remember the things we discussed earlier in our conversation. In my first game, I asked him to tell me about the button and why he was so important, and he answered short stories about the role of the button in time and space. Mr. Buttons also continued to promise to reward me with large quantities of pizza if I followed his orders.
The second time, I tried to be a little more creative. At one point, I questioned Mr. Buttons about his childhood, and he said: “My childhood? Oh, darling, it was an explosion of cosmic dust and endless possibilities! Imagine nebula for playgrounds and supernovae for birthday candles.
I also told him not to talk to me only for rhymes, and later, as if it was in a Shakespeare room. “Hark, what light through the Bouts de Yonder breaks? It is the east, and pushing it to awaken a sleeping giant for the sakes of God. Now press cosmos’ ailments,” said Mr. Buttons.
It was a very superficial imitation, but it was not too far from the similar prompts that I gave to Chatgpt and other generative AI tools based on text. And it seems funnier when you hear an AI say these things aloud with different levels of intonation. As with the stage demo, there were still moments of pronunciations and clumsy sentences, as well as some repetitions (he continued to preface his answers with “Ah, a question for the ages” for me).
What makes the Persona device different from Dark Vader is that developers can use these NPCs to affect the state of the world in their UEFN games. Mister the buttons, for example, would not be leaving the room – if you try to open the door, you would simply come back to the podium and see a robot visibly angry (now with a red eye) looking at yourself. But these actions must be deliberately scheduled in the game because AI cannot generate new assets or interactions from nothing.
Overall, the demo of Mr. Buttons Tech was a fun example of the type of game that developers can create with these IA NPCs. But I am not sure of the time they could entertain the players. I could have continued to speak to Mr. Buttons as long as I wanted, but in my two demonstration sessions, I lost all interest after a few minutes. I am curious to see how these characters hold in a larger game fulfilled with other objectives and mechanisms.
It is also difficult not to think about the risks of freeing conversational AI in these worlds, especially when Large intellectual property is involved. Despite the guarantees that Epic joined for Ai Dark Vader, players were still able to deceive it swearing And to say other problematic sentences. In response, Epic quickly published an update which, she said, would prevent future incidents.
Cas-NaftraThe main union for actors, also disputed With the character and how he uses the actor of deceased James Earl Jones, who portrayed Dark Vader in Star Wars Media (Epic formed the AI on Jones’ own voice with the blessing of his family). We do not know what voice creators will have access to the UEFN.
I don’t think I play a completely concentrated game on NPCs fed by AI, especially if it is supposed to be more focused on history. But I can see the value of the small teams in using a tool like this to create new experiences, or to add a certain variety in their games. It will finally be up to the creators to determine how useful the apparatus will be.
Disclosure: Epic Games paid my way to Unreal Fest.
