Epic is offering $50,000 for AI-made games – anyone can join

We recently reported on an Xbox manager whose comments about the use of artificial intelligence in game development sparked considerable controversy online. The main takeaways: AI has become widespread throughout the gaming industry, and practically anyone can develop a game with the help of AI-powered vibe coding. Anyone curious to find out just how easy that really is now has an opportunity to potentially earn a substantial amount of money through the Epic AI MegaJAM.

The competition runs from November 12 to 15, 2026, and is open to both solo developers and small teams. Participants can create their games using either Unreal Engine or Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). They're free to decide how they want to use artificial intelligence – whether that's writing code, generating artwork and 3D models or creating dialogue for NPCs. So-called coding agents, which can independently handle larger programming tasks, are explicitly encouraged as well.

To make the development marathon worthwhile, Epic is offering a total of $65,000 in regular cash prizes. First-place winners in the main categories for Unreal Engine games, Fortnite projects and students will each receive $7,500. Particularly successful teams may also qualify for development grants of up to $50,000 to continue working on their games after the competition. Participants can join either in person in San Francisco or online. The main eligibility requirements are being at least 18 years old and having an active Epic Games account. Registration is available through the official Epic AI MegaJAM website.

Is Epic trying to prove something?

Epic is launching this competition at a time when the company is facing considerable criticism over its announced plans to increase the use of AI in game development. It's therefore not much of a stretch to suspect that Epic wants to demonstrate how a small number of human developers, supported by extensive AI tools, can create high-quality games in a very short time.

Unreal Engine even published a rather provocative post on X referencing the famous red and blue pills from The Matrix. The message: Take the blue pill and wait months for a playable prototype, or choose the red pill and use AI to create an impressive game in a single weekend. Whether that promise actually holds up remains to be seen. Officially, however, Epic says the competition is about exploring the possibilities of modern AI tools and giving developers greater creative freedom. Whether the resulting games will live up to expectations is another question entirely.

As a child in the 90s, my Gameboy was my steady companion. After school, the PlayStation was fired up. When I finally got my first PC, I was completely hooked. My passion for gaming has never waned since. For me, writing for Notebookcheck means reporting on topics that are really close to my heart - in addition to gaming, I also like to write about e-mobility, photovoltaics and innovative gadgets. When I'm not sitting at my computer, I'm probably on water rescue duty on the Baltic coast or trying to counteract the downsides of my geek life - namely sitting for long periods - at the local swimming pool.