Fortnite players can do more than battle Darth Vader in the popular game’s newest Star Wars event; they can now speak with, and hear him respond, in a voice that sounds just like the one from the movies.
Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, has introduced a feature that allows players to interact with Darth Vader using voice chat. After finding and defeating him in the game, players can recruit the character to join their team. They can then directly talk to him, and he will answer using a digital voice modeled after James Earl Jones.
Jones, who passed away in 2023, was the actor who gave Darth Vader his deep and iconic voice in the original Star Wars films. Before his death, he approved a deal with an AI company called Respeecher, which allowed Disney to use his voice in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. This helped set the stage for future uses of his voice through digital tools.
Epic used two different technologies to recreate the voice for Fortnite: Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash and ElevenLabs’ Flash v2.5. Epic thanked Jones’ family for supporting the collaboration. The family shared that the actor wanted fans of all ages to continue hearing his voice as Darth Vader and hoped the feature would bring joy to longtime fans and new players alike.
To make Vader respond, Fortnite uses a system that sends a player’s voice to Gemini, which helps the game understand what is being said and respond in real time. Epic says it does not keep player voice recordings or written versions of what players say. However, if someone reports an issue with Vader’s reply, Epic may review the character’s response to check for problems.
A generative AI version of James Earl Jones’ iconic Darth Vader voice is now available in Fortnite.
“We hope that this collaboration…will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character,” said Jones’ family. pic.twitter.com/kdn15FBRPA
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) May 16, 2025
The company also said that it will not use these player interactions to train AI systems in the future. For safety, players under 13, or the legal digital age in their country, must get permission from a parent to use the feature.
Concerns about inappropriate responses surfaced after Twitch streamer Loserfruit showed Vader using a curse word during a livestream. In response, Epic quickly released a patch to prevent such language. The company reminded users that safety and respectful content are top priorities when using AI in games.
With this new feature, Fortnite blends classic movie magic with new technology, allowing players to enjoy a familiar voice fresh and interactively.
