The Unreal Dev Grants are an initiative headed up by Epic Games to award individuals and companies with funding that have absolutely no strings attached. No specific genre of game is targeted, so there is a wide array of games. Not even just games can receive a grant either, as you'll see. Those associated with the Unreal Engine and help it out in some way get recognition too. Today, Epic Games announced 15 new recipients of the Unreal Dev Grants, totaling over $200,000. The recipients include 12 games, two valuable community members, and one mod.
Here are all 15 recipients:
Tiny Metal from Area 35
Tiny Metal is a turn-based strategy game inspired by Advanced Wars. While mechanically simple, the gameplay is deep with different units, factions, and abilities. Like any tactical RPG, positioning is the name of the game and Tiny Metal will have varied terrain for players to handle in the 8 – 10 hour campaign.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZPIviRq3SU
Pyotes: Need to Survive from Evgeniy Myasnikov, Filipp Pavlov, and Peter Solodov
Pyotes: Need to Survive mixes adventure and strategy gameplay in a narrative-focused game about aliens whose civilization is on the brink of collapse, so they venture out to find a new planet to inhabit. Pyotes main focus is the story and characters told through great animations and art.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KH6qrUUVY0
Maelstrom from Gunpowder Games
Maelstrom is currently running a Kickstarter, which has 17 days to go and as "Grim fantasy and magic combine with thunderous naval combat in a vibrant, monster-saturated world!" Players will be able to captain an Orc, Dwarf, or Human warship to battle other players. Maelstrom promises "fast, tactical, ship-to-shop combat" solo or in squads. Check out the Kickstarter for more information.Bright Memory from FYQD
Bright Memory is a first person shooter set in the future, developed entirely by one person. It promises fast action set in a sci-fi world. It's due out sometime next year.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuU8jY9o_Ys
Decoherence from Efecto Studios
Decoherence sees players control a team of robots to pit them against another team of robots. You build the robots, devise a battle plan, and then fight alongside them. It blends action and strategy, as its similar to a twin-stick shooter but the components of your robots play a big role as well. You build them with various parts and configure their AI.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvxEEA-X8Ww
Five Minutes Rage from Indomitus Games
Five Minutes Rage is all about blowing up your enemies and throwing a ball in a goal. Matches are quick and last only five minutes; the team with the most goal wins. Its part shooter, part party game, and features local and online multiplayer.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8lG5qGYf0w
Project Wingman from RD-B2
Project Wingman is a combat flight game with an emphasis on the gameplay. It features a single-player story following a mercenary combat pilot "in a world on fire." The game is currently gearing up for a Kickstarter campaign.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikmAItVpg0g
Giraffe and Annika from KamiPallet
Giraffe and Annika is an adventure game following a cat-eared girl named Annika as she explores a mysterious island. The game features music-based battles all about timing.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QLmVwbL4gk
Legion 1917: Rise of the Bolsheviks from Sornyak Arts
Legion 1917: Rise of the Bolsheviks features hand-painted art and is a tactical RPG set during the beginning of the Russian Civil War. Players can explore the war-torn world and participate in the turn-based combat.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn5SwoEKgGg
Project Echo: Knights of the Future from OctoBox Interactive
Project Echo: Knights of the Future is a mech shooter with MMO elements. It features mech to mech combat set in a "future medieval setting."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cAv-lChXsM
Sky Noon from Lunar Rooster
Sky Noon is primarily a first-person shooter with some brawler mechanics thrown in. Players have access to a bunch of weapons, a grappling hook, and a lasso to move around.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejRj8LkvRd8
Foos from Fractal Mob
Foos takes foosball and makes it digital, but the physical, tactile element is still there. The table still stands, but this time is covered in a screen where the foosball takes place digitally, allowing the developers to throw in some arcade elements.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEuSPHBnSCs
Absolute Elimination from Scoob
Absolute Elimination is a mod for Unreal Tournament. It's a round-based team survival mode of the game inspired by well-known Unreal Engine game mods of the past. The developer, Scoob, has maintained support of the mod for over a year, listening and responding to community feedback.LG Tang
LG Tang is a Chinese developer who has been big in supporting the Unreal Engine community in China by translating tutorial and other videos into Chinese.Dustin Lee
Dustin Lee has been a huge part of making Unreal Engine development happen with Korean developers. He has created a lot of resources for Korean developers to use in learning how to develop a game on Unreal Engine 4.So those are all of the recipients of this round of the Unreal Dev Grants. What do you think of some of the projects they have highlighted?
