Fortnite has taken the idea of innovation to the next level with the Galactic Battle season. In the game, the newly added Darth Vader character can now hold a conversation, thanks to an AI-driven feature.
This Sith Lord from Star Wars is powered by AI and can answer your questions, respond to what you say, and even talk about Fortnite, other characters, and more. This is possible when you recruit him and speak via Fortnite’s in-game audio chat feature.
To make this happen, Epic Games has collaborated with Google Gemini and Eleven Labs to bring the character alive. The NPC is powered by Gemini 2.0 Flash and ElevenLabs’ Flash v2.5, which allows building real-time conversational AI agents.
Darth Vader was voiced by the famous American Actor James Earl Jones, who passed away in September 2024 at the age of 93. This recreation was with the consent of his estate, where the family expressed that they hope “Fortnite collaboration lets both longtime and new fans enjoy the iconic character of Darth Vader.”
The AI system safely handles what players say and doesn’t save voice recordings or use them for training. Even with safety rules in place, some players have still managed to make Vader say inappropriate language.
As per the FAQ, players who recruit Vader in a match can talk to him, but those under 13 (or their country’s digital age of consent) need parental permission. Parents can enable this through in-game prompts, settings, or Epic’s website.
