E

Epic Games

Develops games and Unreal Engine tools

Lead Gameplay Programmer - Rocket League

Full-Time
No salary listed
Senior
Montreal, QC, Canada
In Person
Engineering ManagementEngineering Leadership

About the job

Requirements
  • Experience developing gameplay physics systems, including simulation, collision, and character or vehicle physics.
  • Experience with network replication systems, including client-server prediction, state synchronization, and lag compensation.
  • Experience delivering live-service games or AAA massively multiplayer online titles built on Unreal Engine.
  • Proven leadership experience managing high-performing programming teams on shipped AAA titles.
  • Strong C++ skills and the ability to code and design gameplay mechanics and tools.
  • Strong analytical and creative problem-solving skills, with the ability to collaborate and communicate cross-functionally and give and receive constructive feedback.
  • Experience using artificial intelligence coding assistants, such as Claude Code, to improve development efficiency and streamline programming workflows.
Responsibilities
  • Manage a team of seasoned gameplay programmers and serve as the primary hub of communication and information for other disciplines.
  • Distill high-level feature requests into meaningful, actionable work items and delegate effectively to the team.
  • Deliver core gameplay features efficiently and on time, and identify when the team is over- or under-scoped.
  • Lead the vision for gameplay systems and features, and write code and perform system design as needed.
  • Propose and review technical designs, systems, and technical approaches to ensure they satisfy requirements and promote a healthy codebase.
  • Work closely with art and design leads to ensure gameplay mechanics meet functional requirements and quality standards.
  • Work closely with other programming disciplines to integrate systems in support of the player experience.

About the company

Epic Games develops and publishes popular video games and provides development tools and online services for other studios. It creates games like Fortnite across multiple platforms and monetizes via game sales, in-game purchases, and Battle Pass subscriptions; it also licenses Unreal Engine to other developers and offers Epic Online Services for multiplayer and backend support. Epic Games differentiates itself by combining in-house game development with a widely used game engine and a built-in set of backend services, creating an integrated ecosystem for players and developers. Its goal is to entertain players with engaging games while helping other developers build, operate, and grow their own titles.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

Late Stage VC

Total Funding

$8.6B

Headquarters

Cary, North Carolina

Founded

1991

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Unreal Engine 5.8 launched June 17, 2026, and UE6 development is advancing.
  • Epic Games Store posted $400 million third-party PC spend in 2025, up 57%.
  • Fortnite returned to global App Stores on May 19, 2026, restoring mobile reach.

What critics are saying

  • March 24, 2026 layoffs cut over 1,000 staff after Fortnite engagement fell.
  • Stichting Massaschade & Consument filed a €100 million Dutch class action on September 2026.
  • Apple's Supreme Court appeal threatens Epic's store economics; a loss weakens its distribution fight.

What makes Epic Games unique

  • Unreal Engine 6 merges UEFN and UE5; Epic targets late-2027 early access.
  • Fortnite powers Epic's creator economy, paying UEFN creators over $1 billion since 2023.
  • Epic links EGS purchases to Fortnite cosmetics, turning commerce into gameplay distribution.

Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?

Benefits

  • Health coverage - 100% of the premiums for both you and your dependents. Our coverage includes Medical, Dental, a Vision HRA, Long Term Disability, Life Insurance & a 401k with competitive match and profit share
  • Robust mental well-being programs & free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents
  • Unlimited PTO & sick time
  • Paid sabbatical

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-1%

1 year growth

0%

2 year growth

1%
DroidFeats
Oct 16th, 2026
Fortnite adds Obsession One Wish Willow Sprite in update 42.40.

Fortnite adds Obsession One Wish Willow Sprite in update 42.40. The Obsession One Wish Willow Sprite arrived in Fortnite update 42.40 as part of Fortnitemares 2026, offering pushback abilities and enemy Sprite extraction. Epic Games released the Obsession One Wish Willow Sprite on October 15 as part of the 42.40 update for Fortnitemares 2026. The entity stems from a collaboration with the film Obsession following earlier hints during Chapter 7 Season 3. Key points * Epic Games added the Obsession One Wish Willow Sprite on October 15 in Fortnite update 42.40. * The item ties into the Obsession film collaboration after an initial tease in Chapter 7 Season 3. * Players can acquire the Sprite from Pumpkin chests, island vaults, boss eliminations, and player trades. * Six distinct variants exist, providing bonuses such as extra elimination experience and cheat code assistance. The crossover expands the roster of collectibles available in the current season while introducing gameplay mechanics designed to disrupt combat encounters. The release follows recent cosmetic rollouts across the battle royale, including controversies surrounding classic franchise crossovers in Fortnite over visual redesigns. How to find the Obsession One Wish Willow Sprite. Players have several routes to secure the entity during matches. The most reliable method requires finding and destroying Pumpkin chests, which spawn across the island in every match. While their drop rate is competitive, they offer consistent access to Fortnitemares event items. Rare chests inside island vaults present an alternative source. Two permanent vaults remain accessible during Chapter 7 Season 4: one situated below the Stone Sanctum point of interest and another located at the Mega Maze landmark. Navigating these locations often requires optimizing routes between high-value chests, similar to standard methods for gathering resources and navigating Fortnite loot paths. Specialized equipment and inputs also assist in locating the item: * Cheat Codes: Entering codes found in the environment can yield the Sprite. Using a Cheat Code Locator helps uncover rare entries. * Lucky Locator Gizmo: This device guides players directly toward missing collection entries if the Willow Sprite remains uncataloged. * Boss Encounters: Eliminating certain map bosses, such as Fredy Kreuger, drops rare loot including Freddy's Nightmare and a random Sprite. * Combat Drops: Defeating opponents while carrying a Bounty Hunter Sprite provides a chance to extract a random Sprite. * Player Trading: Squad members and trading partners can exchange duplicate Sprites, such as the Cheat Master variant, directly. Recommended island locations. Search efforts are most effective around points of interest introduced or modified for Fortnitemares. Freaky Fields and Nightmare Neighborhood, both added in update 42.40, hold the densest clusters of chests and Cheat Codes despite heavy player competition. Beyond event-specific zones, older Chapter 7 Season 4 locations offer safer exploration routes. Areas such as Reality's Reign, Wonkeeland, and Chopped Shop have maintained standard layouts, making chests and item spawns predictable while tracking environmental characters and Fortnite map elements across surrounding landmarks. Powers and combat mechanics. The base One Wish Willow Sprite functions as both a tactical disengagement tool and a scavenging aid. When equipped, taking damage triggers a localized pulse that knocks nearby opponents back. Eliminating an enemy player allows the user to extract their equipped Sprite directly. Removing the Sprite from your inventory marks your position on the map for other players. Players can upgrade the item's level during a match through multiple activities. Upgrades advance by searching chests and containers, smashing pumpkins, entering Cheat Codes, using abilities, and eliminating enemies. Advancing the entity also contributes progress toward Fortnitemares 2026 quests. Obsession One Wish Willow Sprite variants. Update 42.40 features six distinct variants of the One Wish Willow Sprite. Each type builds upon the core knockback and extraction abilities with specific gameplay perks. Rarity tiers dictate overall drop frequency. Estimated drop probabilities range between 2.637% and 4.396% depending on the specific variant encountered. Never miss a Droidfeats story Choose Droidfeats as a preferred source and see more of its coverage in Google Search. Saeed Ashif Ahmed is passionate about emerging technologies and their potential to create a fairer world. A car enthusiast and civil engineer, he loves cricket and cherishes his alma mater, Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV).

PC Guide
Oct 15th, 2026
New Epic Games Launcher is now available in Preview, and Epic claims it's faster than Steam.

New Epic Games Launcher is now available in Preview, and Epic claims it's faster than Steam. Last Updated on October 15, 2026 Epic Games has released a Preview version of its completely redesigned Epic Games Launcher, promising a much faster and more responsive experience than the current app. The new Launcher is available to test now on Windows and macOS, while Linux users can also try it for the first time. Speed appears to be one of Epic's biggest priorities with the redesign. According to the company's own testing, the new Epic Games Launcher takes 5.47 seconds to go from a cold start to the Store, which Epic claims makes it 46% faster than Steam. Restoring the Launcher from the system tray directly to the Library reportedly takes just 0.36 seconds, which the company says is 14% faster than Steam. Epic also says the new Launcher puts less load on your system while running in the background. Navigation between the Store and Library should feel faster as well, addressing one of the biggest complaints users have had with the existing Launcher. Latest tech deals. Prices correct as of October 9th, 2026. Performance isn't the only thing changing. Epic has redesigned the Library so selecting a game opens a dedicated page showing its status, activity, details, and play controls. Users can also connect their PC game libraries to see everything they own together inside the Launcher. The Library can be displayed using grid or list views, while collections can sit alongside your games. Epic is also allowing users to customize the top bar with their favorite games and apps. Downloads are getting more information too. The new interface lets you monitor download, read, and write speeds, while active, queued, scheduled, and failed downloads can all be viewed from one place. Epic Parties are also supported, allowing users to party up and use voice chat with friends across Fortnite, the Epic Games Store, and Epic's mobile apps. However, Epic makes it clear that this is still an early Preview and is currently light on features. The company describes it as more of a "speedboat and not a yacht," meaning additional features and improvements will arrive as development continues. Since it is effectively a beta, users should also expect to encounter some issues. Another major development is Linux support. Alongside bringing the Launcher to Linux, Epic confirmed that it is working on bringing Fortnite to Linux as well. The company is rebuilding Easy Anti-Cheat and working with Linux distribution maintainers on security requirements. Once support reaches enough distributions, Fortnite will be released on Linux through the Epic Games Launcher. Abdul is a tech writer and Editor for PC Guide, specializing in all things tech, gaming, and hardware.

Linuxiac
Oct 15th, 2026
Epic Games confirms Fortnite is coming to Linux with new Easy Anti-Cheat.

Epic Games confirms Fortnite is coming to Linux with new Easy Anti-Cheat. Epic Games confirms Fortnite is coming to Linux, with a new Easy Anti-Cheat system designed to improve cheat protection on the platform. For all Linux gamers, the wait is (almost) over. Epic Games announced plans to bring Fortnite to Linux as part of a major overhaul of its Easy Anti-Cheat system. The company is developing a new version, called EAC Linux v2, designed to offer protection against cheating closer to what Windows players currently have. Easy Anti-Cheat has supported native Linux games since 2014, while compatibility with Windows games running through Wine and Proton was added in 2021. However, enabling that support has always been up to individual developers, and many have chosen not to because the Linux implementation offered weaker protection than Windows. That's why Fortnite has remained unavailable on Linux. Now, Epic says this will finally change. The company plans to test EAC Linux v2 in Fortnite first, using the game as a real-world test before making the updated anti-cheat technology available to other developers. The goal is to give studios stronger protection against cheating while making it easier to support Linux players. One interesting detail is that the new system won't require a dedicated kernel-level anti-cheat driver. Unlike its Windows counterpart, EAC Linux v2 will rely on security mechanisms already in the Linux kernel, including Kernel Lockdown, IOMMU, and eBPF. Players will be prompted to install a systemd service when launching a protected game for the first time. The service will run only while the game is active and stop when the player exits. However, there is a catch. Epic's proposed security requirements are strict. Systems will need TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, signed kernels and kernel modules, Measured Boot, and several additional security features enabled. The requirements also include disabling kexec, enabling Kernel Lockdown's integrity mode, and activating the BPF Linux Security Module. Users running custom kernels or heavily modified Linux installations may need to make changes before they can play. On the distribution side, Epic has already published an initial list of trusted signing authorities covering Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Bazzite, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, and others. That doesn't mean every installation of these distributions will be compatible. The required security features must also be enabled and correctly configured. Epic says users won't need to keep these settings enabled permanently. They can maintain a separate boot entry configured specifically for protected games, leaving their regular Linux environment unchanged. Unfortunately, Steam Deck owners will have to wait. According to Epic, Valve's handheld currently lacks support for some of the required features, although discussions between the two companies are ongoing in hopes of finding a solution. The company also clarified that developers already using the existing Linux version of Easy Anti-Cheat won't be forced to migrate. They can continue using the older implementation for broader compatibility or adopt EAC Linux v2 for stronger protection. As for Fortnite itself, Epic hasn't announced a release date or explained exactly how the game will be distributed on Linux. The company says the initial deployment will serve as a testing phase, with the technology expanding to other games once its effectiveness has been validated. Tell others: Bobby borisov. Bobby, an editor-in-chief at Linuxiac, is a Linux professional with over 20 years of experience. With a strong focus on Linux and open-source software, he has worked as a Senior Linux System Administrator, Software Developer, and DevOps Engineer for small and large multinational companies.

Overclock3D
Oct 15th, 2026
Valve makes Steam boot times faster in response to Epic Games' new launcher.

Valve makes Steam boot times faster in response to Epic Games' new launcher. It took Valve less than 24 hours to make Steam faster than Epic Games' new launcher. Shortly after Epic Games released its new launcher, Valve released a Steam Client update that dramatically reduces Steam's launch times. This undermines Epic Games' claim that its new game launcher is faster than Steam. That said, the main draw of Epic's improved launcher is that it is much faster than its old launcher, not necessarily faster than Steam. Yesterday, Epic Games claimed that their new launcher started 46% faster than Steam. Now, Valve has sped up Steam's launch times, and early testers claim Steam now boots marginally faster than the new Epic Games launcher. Valve's latest Steam Client update says it "improved Steam Client startup times". Sadly, Valve hasn't said how much faster the updated client is. According to @grilglock_ on X, their Steam client now starts up in 5.23 seconds on their system. This is faster than the stated Epic Games Store launch times above. Note that while this test highlights improvements in Steam's launch times, Overclock3d has not seen how fast the new Epic Games launcher boots on this system. The results above average 13 different Windows PCs. If this 5.23-second boot time comes from a faster-than-average PC, the new Epic Games launcher could still be faster. More scientific testing is required before Overclock3d can confirm which launcher is the fastest. Did Valve plan this? One thing's for certain: Valve's timing here is interesting. Epic Games confirmed in June that it was building a new launcher and that it would be faster. This likely gave Valve the time they needed to work on Steam's startup times. While it is possible that Valve timed this update to undermine Epic Games, it is equally likely that this update's timing is just a coincidence. Regardless, Valve has undermined Epic Games' newfound advantage with their newest Steam client update. While it is unclear which app is faster, the difference between the two is now likely to be negligible. Mark campbell. A Northern Irish father, husband, and techie that works to turn tea and coffee into articles when he isn't painting his extensive minis collection or using things to make other things.

VICE Media
Oct 15th, 2026
How to get Quack Sprites in Fortnite - all Mastery Reward levels.

How to get Quack Sprites in Fortnite - all Mastery Reward levels. Here's how to get all five Quack Sprites in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4, including the Mastery Reward levels needed to unlock Quack Klombo. October 15, 2026, 7:01am Epic Games has surprised players by adding five new Quack Sprites to Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4. Here is the complete list of Fortnite Quack Sprites and the Mastery Reward levels needed to unlock all of them. How to get Quack Sprites in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4. If you thought you were done collecting Sprites in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4, think again. Following today's October 15 update, Epic Games has added five new Quack Sprites to the Override season. However, players will need to earn them through Mastery Rewards, as they do not spawn on the map. To get all Quack Sprites in Fortnite, you must reach Sprite Mastery Reward Level 60. This means you have to master at least 60 Sprites during the Override season before October 31. However, you can unlock your first Quack Sprite at Level 40. To make this easier to track, here are the specific Mastery Reward levels you need to reach: Quack Sprite Fortnite Mastery Reward levels. Once you have mastered enough Sprites, head over to the Mastery Reward tab in the Override menu to receive your unlocked Quack Sprites. You don't actually need to track them down in a match or extract them to add them to your collection. All Quack Sprites in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4. There are a total of five Quack Sprites in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4. The Quack Klombo Sprite could become one of the most coveted, as players must master 60 Sprites to unlock it. Here is the full list of Quack Sprites added on October 15: * Quack Jonesy Sprite * Quack Bush Sprite * Quack Adventure Sprite * Quack Spooky Dash Sprite * Quack Klombo Sprite Following the October 15 update, there are now 162 Sprites to collect in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4. Yeah, I know, it's a lot! Thankfully, it appears the Quack Sprites are the final variants being added this season. Fortnitemares 2026 and the Override season both end on October 31, giving players roughly two more weeks to finish mastering their collection and unlock the Quack Sprites.