Following last year's AI-powered Darth Vader in Fortnite that swore, developers can now test their own AI characters using the new 'conversations' tool.

'Instead of authoring dialogue trees for characters in your islands, conversations transforms an NPC into an AI-powered character capable of unscripted dialogue and interactions with players,' Epic says. Developers define who the character is with simple prompts—how they think, what they know, and how they behave—and then select a voice that matches their persona.

However, Epic has updated its rules for developers to try and ensure these AI characters don't become problematic—including that they can’t be romantic partners. The company warns against creating personas designed to provide medical or mental health guidance or role-playing as date, romantic partner, or other intimate companion; nor should developers attempt to circumvent or undermine the safety systems.

Right now, the conversations tool has an 'experimental' designation—developers won’t be able to publish their experiences with AI characters until it reaches beta. Epic spokesperson Jake Jones tells The Verge that there's 'no timeline to share' for when the beta will launch.

The tool is powered by Google’s Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite models for processing audio inputs and generating text responses, using ElevenLabs to convert these into voiced outputs.