Epic Giving $100 Million In Grants To Game Devs And Researchers, Thanks To Fortnite

As part of its presentation at the Game Developers Conference, Epic Games announced a massive grant program, and it's thanks to the popularity of Fortnite. The Epic MegaGrants program will award shares of $100 million over the course of five years to aspiring game developers, educators, and other professionals using the Unreal Engine and open-source tools.

This is the next stage in Epic's grants program, which started in 2015 with a $5 million pool. That funding has expanded significantly, which Epic chalks up to "Fortnite's unbelievable success."

The grants will be awarded ranging from $5,000 to $500,000. Those who receive grants will still own their IP and be allowed to publish. Epic says that these grants have no strings attached, which means you don't need to sign any kind of exclusivity arrangement to receive them. There is no firm deadline for grant applications.

Specifically, Epic is looking for grant recipients across five categories: game developers, media and entertainment, enterprise, education, and tools and open-source development. Each application should focus on how you plan to use Unreal Engine 4 in your work, curriculum, or research. You can check out the official site for more details.

"At Epic we succeed when developers succeed," said CEO Tim Sweeney in the announcement. "With Epic MegaGrants we're reinvesting in all areas of the Unreal Engine development community and also committing to accelerate the open sourcing of content, tools, and knowledge."