Epic Games, best known as the studio behind Fornite and license owner of Unreal Engine 4, has announced that Unreal Engine 4 has become one of most popular game development tools beside Unity3D and CryEngine. The engine has reportedly already been used by over 2 million users for indie game development and VFX filmmaking. Meanwhile in March 2018, former Sony Entertainment CEO Jack Tretton launched Interactive Gaming Ventures, a funding company specializing in production of independent games. Recently, these two companies have teamed up for funding independent game developers and studios using Unreal Engine 4.
For starters, Unreal Engine 4 is directly free for individual developers and only charges 5% for quarterly revenues of more than $3,000 authorization fees. As a world-renowned 3D engine, Unreal Engine 4 undoubtedly represents the top standard of this era in the game industry. No matter the incomparable light and shadow rendering, the texture display, or the physical simulation of rigid object-based collision based on the reality, Unreal Engine 4 attracts global audiences and players in movies and games.
After four years since leaving Sony Entertainment, Jack Tretton found that many talented developers faced the lack of funds to support the development and lacked experience in providing long-term marketing programs and company relationships. To maximize the success of these independent game developers, Jack Tretton launched Interactive Gaming Ventures to help indie game developers and studios expand their business and provide them with the funds and management methods they need, so they can have the better chance to make good games, grow a resourceful community of game developers, and be successful.
According to PC Gamer, “Interactive Gaming Ventures (IGV), which was launched in March with Tretton at the helm, will invest between $1m and $5m in each project, and will target two to three indie teams a year for the next seven years.”
This partnership between Epic Games and Interactive Gaming Ventures will create so many opportunities and jobs for developers using Unreal Engine 4, and it will keep the game community moving forward to increase the possibility of producing more amazing indie games.