Fortnite now lets you talk to Darth Vader and thanks to AI and some uncanny tech wizardry, Epic Games has brought back James Earl Jones’ iconic voice for Fortnite: Galactic Battle, the game’s latest Star Wars-themed event.
As you might expect, players are already pushing the boundaries of what the Dark Lord of the Sith can, and probably shouldn’t say.
In an announcement titled “This Will Be a Day Long Remembered: Speak with Darth Vader in Fortnite”, Epic introduced a new feature that allows players to have full-on conversations with Vader using voice input.
He responds in that unmistakable baritone made famous by Jones, recreated using a combo of Google’s Gemini 2.0 and ElevenLabs’ Flash v2.5 models. You can ask him about the Force, the Galactic Empire’s politics, or even how to win in the game’s Storm Cycle.
The voice comes courtesy of Respeecher, the Ukrainian AI company known for high-quality voice cloning. Before his death, James Earl Jones signed over the rights to his voice to Lucasfilm in 2022, essentially giving his blessing for future AI recreations.
This new Vader experience is one of the first big public uses of that voice model. In a statement from the actor’s family, they explained the reasoning behind the decision:
“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. 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.”
Players under 13, or whatever the digital age of consent is in their country, need parental permission to chat with Vader, but that hasn’t stopped players from having a field day. Because, of course, they have.
In one viral moment, Twitch streamer Loserfruit discovered firsthand just how wild things could get. While experimenting with the new Vader chat feature, she got the Sith Lord to drop an f-bomb. “F*ck,” he said—calmly, in full James Earl Jones AI voice.
Epic and Disney have, understandably, tried to keep the feature from going totally rogue. According to Fortnite leaker iFireMonkey, Vader’s AI has been coded with restrictions on hot-button topics like self-harm, abuse, eating disorders, hijacking, and jailbreaking. But profanity? Apparently fair game… at least for now.
Turning Darth Vader into a chatty NPC powered by AI is bound to raise eyebrows, no matter how well-intentioned.
Whether this is a meaningful evolution in preserving iconic performances or just another bizarre chapter in Fortnite’s galaxy of crossover absurdity probably depends on who you ask. But, if you ever wanted to hear Darth Vader give you gaming tips, or accidentally cuss you out, now’s your moment.
