Epic Games has announced the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam, a game jam that encourages entrants to use any AI tools they like, from asset generation to coding agents. After a theme reveal on November 11, teams of up to five people (plus as many AI agents as they want) get from November 12 to 15 to build a game in Unreal Engine or UEFN. The cash prizes add up to $65,000, with $7,500 going to the winners of Best Overall in Unreal Engine, Best Overall in UEFN and Best Student Project, and smaller awards for things like best visuals, best mobile game and best dev log on AI tool use. Standout entries can also get Development Continuation Grants of up to $50,000 to keep working on them after the jam.

Interestingly, the jam's FAQ first said at first that participants had to use AI, which Epic later walked back and called a mistake, clarifying that people can use as much or as little AI as they want. The promo art features a hand with six fingers, apparently a nod to AI image generation errors, next to the tagline "Vibe your way to $50K." Reactions online have been quite negative as expected, with people pointing out that jams like Ludum Dare have been producing quick prototypes since 2002 without any help from AI. Many were unhappy that Epic was promoting "AI slop" in such a direct way.

Following the launch of the Valve Steam Deck, there has been a growing tide of game and software developers looking to bring their products and projects to the growing body of Linux gamers. Epic Games is no different, with the company previously revealing in a job listing that it was looking to expand Easy Anti-Cheat support on Linux. Following an announcement that Epic Games was rebuilding its game launcher with a new framework that promises 5× faster launch speeds, there has also been speculation that the Fortnite company could be launching a native Linux version of the Epic Games Launcher.

Now, as reported by Steam Deck HQ, an Epic Games employee has revealed in a Discord Q&A that a Linux version of the launcher is in development and would be launching "soon," when asked about the possibility by a Discord member. This doesn't actually give anyone a timeline or state of a native Linux version, but it serves as confirmation that Epic Games is actively working on Linux support. It's also an indicator that Epic Games is starting to take Linux more seriously as a gaming platform, despite CEO Tim Sweeney's prior dismissive remarks about Linux.

Epic Games CEO, Tim Sweeney, has a reputation for his hot takes on the gaming industry, and he has previously been vocal about both the perceived benefits of AI in gaming and his criticisms of its detractors. Now, the executive has expanded on his prior comments about Valve's mandatory generative AI disclosure, which he previously said "makes no sense for game stores," in a new interview with PC Gamer. These comments follow the recent announcement that Unreal Engine 5.8 and Unreal Engine 6 will add more generative AI features to the game engine. Addressing the question of AI art and how it may be more of a PR problem, Tim Sweeney said that "it's just a question of adaptation of tools, because there's nothing like a prompt-to-game solution on the horizon that anybody expects will work," going on to explain that artists at Epic Games are already using generative AI to "reduce the drudge work," referring to some of the more tedious parts of the 3D modelling and texturing process.

He goes on to advocate for using AI, stating that "it's impossible to reconcile the idea that developers shouldn't use productivity-improving tools with the state of the industry." He goes on to explain that how you go about creating an in-game asset isn't important, and that "you might spend a million dollars modeling a flower pot to get the most detailed flower pot creatable by humanity, but you could also scan a flower pot with a very high resolution camera," and that "the value is not in creating a perfect flower pot...the real value is in building the scene and building the game and building the narrative." Ultimately, his argument is that AI makes it cheaper to make games and in-game assets, but he argues that "it's unfortunate that so many developers are put into this position. If you want to launch a game and get it as widely publicized as possible, you've got to put it on Steam...then you have to get this Scarlet Letter of AI attached to your product, and now there is a hater community trying to kill the game." He calls Valve's AI disclosure "irresponsible" and says that it makes it "much, much, much harder for a game developer to have a chance of success."