Star Wars and AI are colliding in one of the biggest games around. Darth Vader once again joined Fortnite on Friday, except unlike so many crossover cameos in Epic’s game, this one will talk back to you and your friends while you’re running around Junk Junction looking for easy pick-offs. It’s voiced by a digital replica of the late James Earl Jones’ voice and Epic Games says the Star Wars actor’s family is okay with the whole thing.
“Strategize with the ultimate Sith Lord. With your voice. And he’ll respond back using conversational AI,” Epic announced in a blog post. “Darth Vader has touched down once again as a boss in Battle Royale, replacing Darth Vader Samurai. Be the first to recruit him and your whole team will be able to take turns talking to the Dark Lord. Just remember to press the special Darth Vader button that’ll pop up to talk to him.”
Players have already been running around with the James Earl Jones Darth Vader AI chatbot since it went live and have been getting it to say all kinds of weird and silly stuff. “What freaking fucking food is that Darth Vader?” streamer LoserFruit asked in one clip going around online. “Freaking, fucking, such vulgarity does not become you,” he said in response after a short pause.
I’m sure you have lots of questions. Epic has tried to answer a few of them in an FAQ. The James Earl Jones Darth Vader AI uses Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash model to generate responses, and ElevenLabs’ Flash v2.5 model to create the audio. If you’re under 13, you’re not supposed to be able to talk to James Earl Jones Darth Vader AI without your parents’ permission. If James Earl Jones Darth Vader AI says anything offensive, you’re supposed to report it to Epic.
“James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it,” reads a statement from the actor’s family shared by Epic. Jones passed away last year and previously signed over rights to his voice to Lucasfilm. “We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character.”
The Fortnite Star Wars experiment comes weeks after Lucasfilm recently showcased a two-minute AI-generated Star Wars that involved a jumble of weird looking animals and was, frankly, insulting garbage. Ironically, the embrace of morally bankrupt tech comes just as Andor season 2 wrapped up some of the best and most creatively vibrant live-action Star Wars in decades. And while Darth Vader might be the franchise’s most iconic character, the character whose dark ambitions turned him into a broken cyborg is an odd choice for resurrecting the voice of a legendary actor so it can get trolled by Fortnite teens.
.
