Epic Games has been heavily giving back to the videogame developer community over the last few years, first with its Unreal Dev Grants initiative, and then its new Epic MegaGrants programme which arrived last month. Today, the company has announced a new partnership with Magic Leap, offering 500 Magic Leap One Creator Edition headsets for Unreal Engine creators.
As this is a grants-based initiative, if you’re a developer working on spatial computing applications across entertainment, architecture, automotive, healthcare and other industries using Unreal Engine then you can submit an application to receive a free Magic Leap One Creators Edition headset. That’s right completely free of charge, saving on the regular price of $2,295.
“The Epic MegaGrants program allows developers to pursue new goals and raise the bar for what they can accomplish, and we’re glad to support that mission by making Magic Leap One Creator Edition available to creators working in the spatial computing arena,” said Rio Caraeff, Chief Content Officer, Magic Leap in a statement. “Putting these devices directly into the hands of promising developers, along with the financial grant from Epic, will help accelerate the industry and lead to new innovation.”
There is no deadline, with grants awarded on a rolling basis and hardware available on a first-come-first-served basis, based on project merit. So the sooner you submit the application the better.
“We’re thrilled that Magic Leap is offering their support to the Epic MegaGrants program with this generous giveaway of 500 Magic Leap One Creator Edition devices, which offer incredible opportunities to explore applications from digital humans to product design,” said Simon Jones, Director, Unreal Engine Enterprise, Epic Games. “The option to receive this hardware as part of an Epic MegaGrant means that more of the funds can be available to spend in other areas, so developers have more financial flexibility and freedom to create.”
Epic MegaGrants is a brand new $100,000,000 programme to support any developer using the Unreal Engine. Apart from free Magic Leap headsets, studios can apply for grants ranging from $5,000 all the way up to $500,000. Plus they will continue to own their IP.
For more information and to apply, head to the official Epic MegaGrants website. As further updates are announced, VRFocus will let you know.