Fortnite Replaces In-Game Art After Google Gemini AI Watermark Discovery

Fortnite has quietly swapped out a piece of in-game artwork after players noticed the original version bore a Google Gemini AI watermark.

Last month, Epic Games introduced the music track "Meow" by Ironmouse, Sleeping Forest & HalaCG to Fortnite, and the track's artwork featured the unmistakable Gemini watermark in the bottom right corner. This went largely unnoticed until last weekend, when its discovery sparked a minor uproar on social media and Reddit.

As of this morning, however, that artwork has been replaced with an alternate version that lacks the Gemini watermark. But upon closer inspection, it's important to note that the Gemini usage was present in the original art for the track list, which Epic Games simply incorporated into the game. A quick check on Spotify reveals the Gemini mark there as well. In other words, the blame for the Gemini usage lies with the creator of the track art, not Epic Games.

So why the switch? AI-generated artwork in Fortnite is a sensitive topic for fans, who have pointed to past questionable instances—like an in-game poster showing a nine-toed character in a hammock—as evidence that Epic Games might be using low-quality AI work instead of human designers. More recently, an official developer video shed light on Epic's AI experiments, demonstrating how the company uses AI in the conceptual phase for creating characters and in-game locations.

That said, Epic Games has consistently avoided outright confirming that any specific in-game art is AI-generated, and has maintained a certain level of quality for its ever-popular battle royale. To date, there hasn't been anything as glaring as Call of Duty's infamous six-fingered Santa.

The fact that Epic Games made this switch is, if anything, a positive sign that it doesn't want to openly display artwork with obvious AI elements, such as the Gemini watermark, in Fortnite.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, Disney stated that its rumored interest in buying Epic Games was not something it planned to pursue—at least for now.