A giddy contestant hops up and down in front of a studio audience, sweating profusely, as they spin a giant colorful wheel that is an amalgam of Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right. The wheel clicks to a stop and the spray-tanned host reads a placard: 

“You’ve won a…an Epic MegaGrant to complete your CG short film in Unreal Engine 5?” 

The audience boos. The host frowns. Only the contestant remains giddy. They run onstage and fist pump. 

“Oh, my gosh. I cannot wait to create lush textured landscapes in stunning real-time virtual production. Thank you.” 

The host mutters to an assistant, “What am I missing? They could’ve won a nice, new toaster.” 

ICVR, a digital game development and virtual production studio out of Los Angeles, didn’t have to spin any wheels. No stale basic cable audience booed them and what possibly happened when they learned they had acquired an Epic MegaGrant for their animated short film, Lightfall, is that they felt relief and gratitude.

The Epic MegaGrant program is a hundred-million-dollar grant funding project by Epic Games that has helped over 1,800 creators have the financial means and technical tools to achieve their vision. Epic seeks out live-action and animated projects that will be completed through Unreal Engine, along with projects that include education, research, and software development – as long as it lives within the parameters of real-time virtual production in Unreal Engine and the “3D graphics ecosystem.” Epic is also now calling for Fortnite creators and awarding grants to UEFN (Unreal Editor Fortnite) projects.  

The MegaGrants program encompasses a wide spectrum of creative ventures, offering grants from $5,000 to $500,000 for what Epic designates as “extraordinary projects.” Epic asks creators to design a realistic budget for the project and applicants receive a response within 90 days. 

ICVR’s Lightfall is still in development but ICVR described the film: 

This cinematic masterpiece narrates the enchanting odyssey of a primitive candlemaker, embarking on a magical journey of enlightenment upon the discovery of extraordinary artificial light technology.

ICVR offers a full spectrum of virtual production services that range from software development to 3D asset creation and LED and CG consulting. Clients include Reel FX, Hulu, Epic Games, and a range of other major brands.

Epic MegaGrant recipient: Jonas Manke for an adventure game Omno

Adventure game Omno by Jonas Manke (photo courtesy of Studio Inkyfox)

Epic’s MegaGrants page states they’ve awarded over 1,800 grants since the program’s inception in 2019, which is wild to think that means Epic hands out roughly one grant per day. In the past couple of weeks, UCF Today announced that Limbitless Solutions had been awarded a MegaGrant for its project, “Project Inventor: Bionic Training Games for Children with Limb Differences,” a multi-player bionic limb-training game. UCF Associate Professor at the UCF School of Visual Arts and Design, Matt Dombrowski, is leading this project with Associate Professor Peter Smith. 

The same week, Green Goo Games announced it had received a MegaGrant for its action role-playing game, Need For Cheese. Gamepress.com described Need For Cheese: 

Crawl through countless dungeons, fighting hordes of monsters in this unique, fast-paced action RPG. Class-up, mutate, and survive as you loot, shoot, upgrade, and repeat. Descend into the depths of a strange and dark world filled with mysteries and uncover its secrets.

Need for Cheese game

Epic MegaGrant recipient, Need for Cheese by Green Goo Games

3D creators in search of funding should probably not use a cheesy ’90s game show as their main avenue for virtual production funding. Poor, poor financial strategy right there. But the diversity of projects supported through Epic grant funding shows that if you have a world saturating your mind, there are tools to help make it tangible.  

The Epic MegaGrants program is ongoing and developers can view the guidelines for Epic MegaGrants on the Unreal Engine MegaGrants page.