Make a Mod, Earn a Million

Epic holds the mother of all Unreal contests.

Fresh off unveiling the first screenshots from Unreal Tournament 2004, Epic Games and Digital Extremes announced the Make Something Unreal contest today, a mod-building competition with some of the highest stakes in game history?a chance to win something from Epic's million-dollar stash of money and prizes.

Starting this month, Epic will run the contest in three separate phases, with registration for the first phase ending July 15. 13 different categories are available to compete in, including Best Mod, Best Character, Best Vehicle, Best Use of Karma Physics, and Best Non-Interactive Movie (a.k.a. Machinima). The first prize announcements will take place this winter, and the grand prize winners are set to be unveiled at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, CA in March 2004. At stake: $300,000 worth of high-end PCs from Nvidia, $30,000 in Maya 3D rendering software, assorted cash rewards, and one grand prize?an Unreal Engine license that lets you release your mod commercially. (Doesn't sound like much? Well, keep in mind that the asking price for a license is $350,000. That's four zeroes.)

"This contest is not just about creating the best mod for UT2003 and UT2004. It is intended to tap the talents of a wide audience of aspiring game developers and artists," said Mark Rein, vice president at Epic Games. "We hope that the contest will act as a catalyst for those talented individuals who might not have tried their hand in the game arena before, but want to get in and have the appropriate skills to create amazing mods for Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004."

Interested parties are invited to register at www.makesomethingunreal.com as quickly as possible.

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