Epic Starting $5M Grant Program for Projects Using Unreal Engine

If you're developing a game using Unreal Engine, you may be eligible for a grant from Epic. This week Epic's CEO Tim Sweeny announced in a blog post that the company has created a $5 million grant program to fund select projects made with Unreal Engine. The grants range from $5,000 to $50,000 with projects that have reached a "working prototype" stage eligible for nomination. Sweeny stated that selection of projects will be based on merit. One would assume that the selection committee would also look at each game's potential for financial success, although this wasn't addressed in Sweeny's blog. Additionally, Sweeny emphasized that projects would remain the sold property of the nominees, including IP and publishing rights. The goal of the grant program, according to the post, is to help projects offset distribution costs such as "marketing materials, and promotional expenses." Projects can be nominated at the Unreal Dev Grants information page or if you're going to GDC, they'll be at booth #1024 South.