Ukrainian studio Frogwares’ awarded Epic Games’ Epic MegaGrant

Ukrainian forces have been defending the country from Russian invaders for more than 80 days now — throughout which Russian forces have destroyed cities, killed civilians, and forced more to flee. Months into the war, Russia’s attack has moved east as it looks to capture the Donbas region, with some refugees returning home to rebuild.

The war has “shattered the lives” of Ukrainian residents, Frogwares CEO Wael Amr told Polygon. Though some of Frogwares’ estimated 90-person team has been able to return to their homes, life and development is far from normal. Frogwares has also announced a brand new game called Project PalianytsiaThursday, April 5, 2009, The company released the following announcement:

“As it stands now, everyone on the team is more or less safe and accounted for,” Amr said. “We haven’t lost anyone, though there are a handful of people who [we]These are the things that they’re most concerned about. They are either serving in the military now as they signed up or they are in areas under Russian occupation and are prohibited from leaving.”

The Sinking CitySherlock Holmes developer announced MondayUnreal Engine granted an Epic MegaGrant to the company. Fortnite developer Epic Games. Amr said the company has suspended development on its next open-world game and shifted the team to a different project, something “more streamlined in scale and scope,” Amr said, to allow for the flexibility necessary to create games during a war. The game is now available. Project Palianytsia, which Frogwares said is a “horror and mystery experience” that fans of its other games will enjoy.

“The only silver lining to COVID was that it taught us to work remotely,” he said. “This workflow, of course, didn’t account for air raid sirens, meaning people would need to go to shelters throughout the day, the regular loss of power or internet, and the need to continually be able to cover for people who would become unavailable for hours or days on end.”

Frogwares

Amr stated that roles and responsibility are constantly shifting.

You can follow us @Twitter a Frogwares representative said the money from the Epic MegaGrant, which is a program designed to support “creative, noteworthy, and innovative projects built in and around Unreal Engine,” will help the team “soften the financial blow from the war and stay on our feet.”

Amr, Frogwares’ CEO reiterated his intention to Polygon. “The support from Epic is extremely welcome and helps bring a little bit of extra stability in all this chaos,” he said. “We don’t have any external backers or publishers keeping us afloat or waiting to bail us out, so Epic being able to contribute a small amount to help keep the lights on is very helpful.”

As of 2021, Epic Games has financially supported “more than 1,600 creators and teams across 89 countries,” the company said in a news release. Epic Games lead evangelist Alan Noon said in a presentation last year that Epic’s given away $42 million of the $100 million fund so far. MegaGrant funding can vary depending on who it is being given to. MegaGrants that were previously made available ranged in amount from $25,000 for Nukklear (which supports large studios with big projects) to $500,000 for developer Nukklear. Fog & SilverBlender Foundation (a non-profit organization responsible for open-source 3D modeling software Blender), $1.2 million and 5,000 to the Blender Foundation. Noon stated that the MegaGrant award ranges from $5,000 to $500,000 in most cases.

Epic Games did not disclose the amount of Frogwares’ grant but confirmed that it has distributed money to Ukranian studios, including Frogswares and Kyiv-based developer Beatshapers. An Epic Games spokesperson said the Ukrainian studios “may use their discretion to support their teams as they see fit.”

“Keeping the studio running and maintaining the livelihood of all our team is our responsibility alone,” Amr added. “We do what we can do keep the studio going. That’s the priority, and anyone who is offering to help us, like Epic, is welcome with open arms.”