American developer Kite and Lightning hasn’t yet released it’s long awaited virtual reality (VR) title Bebylon Battle Royale but it is still being awarded funding for the project, this time through Epic Games and its Unreal Dev Grant programme.
Every so often Epic Games announces a new raft of dev grants for indie studios that use Unreal Engine for their projects. This new round has seen over $200,000 USD being awarded to a mixture of developers, with Kite & Lightning being the only one making a VR videogame.
Bebylon Battle Royale’s core gameplay revolves around a multiplayer combat arena where you control babies who fight it out for supremacy with customisable vehicles and weapons to play with. There’s more to the experience than just fighting however, with the studio creating an entire virtual world in which to explore. The title also made VRFocus’ The Best HTC Vive Games Coming in 2018 list.
“Unreal Dev Grants is our way to reward and highlight the incredible talent that makes up the Unreal development community,” said Chance Ivey, Partnership Manager, Epic Games in a statement. “These projects show what is possible when you combine passion with creative technology, and stand as examples of why we do what we do.”
Established in February 2015, Unreal Dev Grants is a $5 million development fund that supported many a VR developer in its time. These have included: Cooperative Innovations’ Raiders of Erda; The Soulkeeper VR by Helm Systems; Ape Law’s psychological horror title Albino Lullaby; Carbon Studio’s Alice VR and Kenzan Studios’ The Fantastic Voyages of Teo and Leonie to name a few.
While Bebylon Battle Royale may have been the only VR title on the list, an augmented reality (AR) experience also made the grade. Originally revealed back in September 2017, The Machines comes from Chinese studio Directive Games Limited. It’s a MOBA-inspired AR PVP game where players build an army of robots and duke it out with a friend in-person or online.
As new grants are awarded by Epic Games, VRFocus will keep you updated on the latest VR titles making the grade.
via Mint VR