Fortnite Swaps AI-Watermarked Art After Fan Backlash

Did you spot the Google Gemini watermark in Fortnite? If not, you're not alone—but once the internet noticed, Epic Games acted fast.

Last month, Epic added the music track "Meow" by Ironmouse, Sleeping Forest & HalaCG to Fortnite. The track's artwork had a telltale Gemini AI watermark in the bottom right corner. It went unnoticed until last weekend, when fans on social media and Reddit caught on, causing a minor uproar. By this morning, the artwork had been quietly replaced with a version lacking the watermark.

But here's the twist: the Gemini mark was in the original track art that Epic simply incorporated into the game. Check the track on Spotify, and you'll see the same Gemini watermark there. So the AI usage here is on whoever made the track art initially—not Epic Games.

Why does this matter? AI-generated art in Fortnite is a hot-button issue. Fans have previously pointed to dubious examples, like an in-game poster featuring a nine-toed character in a hammock, suggesting Epic might be cutting corners with AI instead of hiring human designers. More recently, an official developer video showed how Epic experiments with AI in the conceptual phase for characters and locations.

Still, Epic has always avoided outright confirming any specific in-game art is AI-generated, maintaining a veneer of quality for its ever-popular battle royale. And to be fair, there hasn't been anything as egregious as Call of Duty's six-fingered Santa.

The fact that Epic made the switch is a positive sign—it doesn't want obvious AI elements like that Gemini watermark visible in Fortnite. Meanwhile, over the weekend, Disney stated that its rumored desire to buy Epic Games was not something it was planning to act on—at least right now.

What do you think about AI art in games? Will you be picking up that "Meow" track? Let us know in the comments!