Fortnite gamers cancel Crew subscriptions en masse as Epic Games doubles down on 'AI first' future

Fortnite players are withdrawing their financial support from Epic Games following the company's controversial decision to embrace artificial intelligence, with one fan publicly cancelling their Crew subscription in protest.

The backlash comes after Epic CEO Tim Sweeney announced a major change in direction for the company, which Bloomberg reported as an 'AI first' approach for an upcoming Disney crossover shooter featuring Marvel and Star Wars characters.

With more than 1,000 employees laid off earlier this year, the announcement has sparked fresh criticism of Epic's priorities, as players question whether they should continue spending money on its games.

Fortnite players are refusing to support Epic's AI plans

On 12 October, Sweeney confirmed on X (formerly Twitter): “We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic, moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration.”

He added: “The aim isn't to do the same stuff with fewer people, but to enable everyone here to build MORE and BETTER stuff, and to bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal.”

However, the reassurance appears to have done little to convince some Fortnite fans.

Responding directly to Sweeney's announcement, former Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) creator Sloth (@sleightedsloth) shared a screenshot confirming their Fortnite Crew membership had been cancelled.

Also on X, they wrote: “No thanks I’m out…”, with the accompanying image showing that recurring payments had stopped, although their existing subscription would remain active until 1 November.

The post has since attracted more than 6,000 likes amidst over 300,000 views, with other players expressing similar frustrations about spending money on Epic's products.

One X user plainly put: “Lowkey gonna cancel my Fortnite crew membership bro, f**k AI”

Another, conveying a moment of clarity by also adding a gif of King of the Hill’s Bobby Hill meditating, replying to Culture Crave’s sharing of the news, said: “Fortnite is truly done being any kind of a creative outlet all so the executives can fluff their golden parachutes harder.

“At this point, Epic is a cancer that needs fixed or excised before it further kills development across the board.”

A particular critic of Sweeney on X, citing his recent poorly received moves as ‘the dumbest things imaginable’, has advised that the best thing to do is ‘not give Epic any money at all’, adding:

“I've cancelled my crew subscription, and I haven't spent money on Fortnite in months because of this idiot, as him and his company do not deserve it (The devs deserve it, but the higher ups don't at all). My money goes literally anywhere else.

“Highly encourage others to do the same”

There are also those who currently weren’t spending money with Fortnite at the time of the news, but now definitely won’t be doing so again, like one who stated in response to Sweeney’s post: “Tim, f**k you for what you're doing to Fortnite. Never spending money on Fort again after this. Gonna keep my crewpass canceled. F**k this b******t”

Replying to Sloth’s post, another said they’re taking the same sort of action, saying: “I never had auto-renewal on for my Fortnite Crew subscription and it expired a week ago, definitely not gonna repurchase it after this s**t lol”

The outrage isn't limited to Fortnite, either.

Reacting to Culture Crave’s reporting of Epic's aforementioned Disney shooter using AI-generated artwork and code, an X user commented: “Cool. Remind me NEVER to buy this”, will plenty of ‘your AI slop bores me’ memes in the rest of the thread.