After players noticed a telltale Google Gemini watermark embedded in the artwork for an in-game music track, Epic Games has quietly replaced that image within Fortnite. The change came this morning following a wave of discovery over the weekend, when fans flagged the original cover art—which accompanied the “Meow” track by Ironmouse, Sleeping Forest & HalaCG—as appearing to be AI-generated rather than crafted by human artists.
The music pack arrived in Fortnite last month, and its artwork carried the Gemini signature in the bottom right corner. The detail went largely unnoticed until it began circulating across social media and Reddit over the past few days, prompting a minor controversy about the use of artificial intelligence inside one of the world’s most popular battle royale games.
The Watermark Was Never Epic Games’ Own Work
As of this morning, the track now displays an alternate version of its artwork with no visible watermark. However, closer inspection reveals that the Gemini usage traces back to whoever originally created the cover art—artwork that Epic Games simply incorporated into the game rather than producing in-house.
The original image still bears the mark on Spotify as well, confirming that the AI-generated element belongs to the track’s initial artwork rather than anything commissioned or designed by Epic. In other words, the watermark is a product of the music pack’s creation, not an in-house decision by the developer.
A Contentious History With AI Art
The switch comes at a sensitive moment for Fortnite, where AI-generated artwork remains a deeply divisive topic among fans. Players have previously pointed to questionable examples within the game—such as an in-game poster featuring a nine-toed character lounging in a hammock—to argue that Epic Games had resorted to low-quality AI assets instead of employing human designers.
A more recent official developer video offered some transparency into how the studio approaches artificial intelligence, showcasing how it experiments with AI during the conceptual phase when designing characters and in-game locations. Even so, Epic has consistently avoided confirming whether any specific piece of in-game art was generated by AI, maintaining a careful distance from outright commitments.
Epic Games has always shied away from strictly confirming any particular in-game art is AI generated, and has maintained at least a veneer of quality over the evergreen battle royale it continually toils to keep popular. To date, there hasn’t been anything quite as egregious as Call of Duty’s embarrassing and grotesque six-fingered Santa.
Tom Phillips, IGN News Editor
The studio has never faced a situation quite as glaring as the six-fingered Santa that plagued Call of Duty. The fact that Epic chose to swap out this particular image suggests it does not wish to display artwork featuring unmistakable AI markers—like an obvious Gemini watermark—within Fortnite.
A Broader Moment for Epic Games
The timing of the removal lands amid a whirlwind period for Epic Games. Over the weekend, Disney clarified that its rumored interest in acquiring the studio was not something it intended to pursue—at least not immediately. The company continues to expand Fortnite’s ecosystem with new content while navigating ongoing scrutiny over how it integrates emerging technologies into its ever-evolving world.
For now, players can still access the “Meow” track and enjoy its updated artwork without the AI watermark that briefly appeared in-game. Whether Epic will continue to quietly correct similar assets remains unclear, but this episode underscores the growing pressure on developers to be transparent about their use of artificial intelligence in games.
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