Ex-Blizzard employee has 'vibe' coded a new game engine with backing from AMD: 'We're developing 93x faster than we ever did before with Unreal'

Mark Kern, a former Blizzard employee known for work on World of Warcraft and Red 5 Studios, announced the Kun-Zhi Engine, an AI-first game development platform built for the upcoming title Em-8er. Kern stated the engine was created in six months using AI tools to replace Unreal Engine, enabling development speeds he described as 93 times faster than previous methods. The engine is written primarily in C with some Elixir and runs on Vulkan, positioning it as a ground-up alternative to traditional engines.

Kern emphasized that the Kun-Zhi Engine is not a toy but a production-ready system, requiring more than simple AI prompting to guide development effectively. He noted that practical knowledge of game construction remains essential for achieving polished results. The engine is slated for a public release, starting with backers, and corporate sponsorships are available, with current partners including AMD and Razer.

The first public demonstration of Em-8er, powered by the Kun-Zhi Engine, showcased character models, physics, collision meshes, and what Kern described as "waifus" in the game. Development utilized a rotation of AI tools including Codex, Grok, Claude, and Astra. Kern clarified that "vibe" coding involves significant skill beyond basic AI prompting to ensure production viability.

The project has drawn attention for its ambitious claims and early visuals, which some observers found janky compared to established engines like Unreal or Unity. While AMD and Razer’s involvement lends credibility, questions remain about the engine’s performance and polish once development transitions from curated demonstrations to full player access.