Epic's second 2026 MegaGrants cycle closes on 4 September — grants of $5,000 to $150,000 for small Unreal teams, with no equity taken and IP staying yours.
Epic's MegaGrants programme stops taking applications for its second 2026 cycle on Thursday 4 September at 11:59 PM Eastern. If you have an Unreal project that needs funding and you have been meaning to apply, this is the week to do it.
MegaGrants are direct payments from Epic to fund work built in or around Unreal Engine — typically between $5,000 and $75,000, with standout projects receiving up to $150,000. Epic takes no equity and makes no claim on your work: the programme's own FAQ states you continue to own your IP and may publish it however you wish. More than 2,000 projects have been funded since the programme began.
It is aimed squarely at small teams and solo developers. Four kinds of project get a look in: indie games built in Unreal, UEFN experiences, open-source tools that improve the wider 3D ecosystem, and projects partway through development in another engine whose teams want to move across. That last category is the underrated one — Epic reserves a proportion of each cycle specifically for engine transitions, which covers exactly the expensive, demoralising stretch of a port where small teams tend to give up.
The dates for the current cycle:
- Submissions close 4 September, 11:59 PM ET
- Review runs 5 September to 4 December
- Decisions go out 7–11 December
If Thursday slips past, the wait is a long one. This is the final cycle Epic has listed for 2026, and nothing later has been announced — the realistic next chance is well into next year.
Details and the application form are on the Epic MegaGrants page.