Fortnite Using A.I. Darth Vader Is Another Step Toward the Dark Side

Darth Vader has a new enemy, but it isn’t the Jedi Order reborn. It’s the Screen Actors Guild. On May 16, as part of a month-long collaboration between Epic Games’ Fortnite and Disney-owned Star Wars, Darth Vader was added to Fortnite Battle Royale as an optional, recruitable ally. What’s unusual about Vader is that players can “talk” to him; by pressing a special button, players can say anything into their headsets to Vader, and the Sith Lord will respond using conversational artificial intelligence. The technology uses the voice of the late James Earl Jones, who played Darth Vader in the films.

Epic Games wrote on its official blog that Fortnite’s A.I. Vader was created with the involvement of Jones’ estate: “We’re honored to feature the voice of the late Mr. Jones and we thank his estate for the opportunity to make this happen for players,” wrote Epic in a statement.

However, the union that represents professional actors, SAG-AFTRA, says that Epic violated labor practices by failing to notify the union, “and without bargaining with us over appropriate terms.”

“We celebrate the right of our members and their estates to control the use of their digital replicas and welcome the use of new technologies to allow new generations to share in the enjoyment of those legacies and renowned roles,” reads SAG-AFTRA’s statement.

It should be emphasized the use of Jones’s voice is not the problem here; the actor signed over the rights to his voice to Lucasfilm in 2022, and even worked with Ukranian-based A.I. firm Respeecher prior to his death. The first instance of an A.I. Vader was not Fortnite, but for the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Gamers asking Vader vulgar questions or making him cuss—which Epic issued a swift hotfix after players caught the dark lord dropping F-bombs—isn’t the issue either. It’s that Fortnite released an A.I. Darth Vader, a character otherwise performed by union members, during a major ongoing strike against video game companies by the actors’ union.

Adds SAG-AFTRA: “However, we must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games.” The union announced it filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Epic Games’ Llama Productions.

While yes, it’s awfully funny to ask Darth Vader about Skibidi Toilet and Sabrina Carpenter—and in one Reddit user’s case, receive an unexpectedly moving response after they told Vader about their recently deceased grandmother—AI’s concerning potential to replace human artists evolves at lightspeed. Generative artificial intelligence was at the center of the 2023 dual labor strikes in Hollywood, and in July 2024, SAG-AFTRA began its strike against major gaming publishers over an industry-wide rush to adopt of A.I. Among the parties SAG-AFTRA is striking against is Fortnite’s publishers Epic Games. “We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher in the union’s July 2024 strike announcement.

The real disturbance in the Force is how Epic felt emboldened to drop its A.I. Vader while it is in active dispute with the actors’ union over A.I. Since 2024, Epic Games has enjoyed splashy investment from Star Wars’ parent company, Disney, with Fortnite as the crux of their partnership. That a tech giant backed by one of the biggest movie studios in the world implemented a virtual novelty action figure—without concerning the labor union that advocates protections for humans from A.I.—comes across as one of the biggest gestures of arrogance yet. The future is yet to be written, but as people grow alarmingly comfortable with artificial intelligence, it may already be decided.