At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating.
Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.
Unreal-powered projects have been on the bleeding edge of real-time entertainment for over 20 years. Our team of engineering experts are always innovating to improve the tools and technology that empower content developers worldwide.
ENGINE PROGRAMMER INTERNWhat You'll DoWe are looking for an Engine Programmer Intern to join the team building a new serialization stack for Unreal Engine. This schema-based serialization system will be at the heart of how engine content is saved, loaded, and versioned. As part of the serialization team you will be given a feature to own within our development cycle — such as schema evolution, data migration / recovery, type bindings, or debug tooling. You will work with your engineering lead and partner-teams across the engine to flesh out the system and build core technology that millions of players and creators rely on every day.
In this role, you will- Design and implement a feature within the serialization stack, taking it from proposal to shipped code with guidance from your engineering lead
- Write high-performance, memory-efficient C++ for systems where correctness and backwards compatibility are critical
- Build tooling that helps users work with serialized data — such as diffing, visualization, and human-readable text formats
- Develop thorough unit tests to guarantee data integrity across save, load, and version-upgrade paths
- Collaborate with partner teams across the engine to integrate the serialization system with their data and workflows
- Participate in code reviews and design discussions, learning how core engine technology is built and maintained at scale
- Strong C++ fundamentals, including a solid grasp of memory management, pointers, and familiarity with the fundamentals of template
- Good understanding of data structures and how data is laid out and represented in memory
- Interest in low-level systems programming — file formats, binary data, compilers, or engine internals
- A rigorous, detail-oriented approach
- Being comfortable debugging unfamiliar code and methodically tracking down the root cause of a problem
- Being able to explain a technical design and ask good questions
- Self-driven, eager to learn, and open to feedback, using it to improve your work
This internship has a flexible start date in 2027. Recruitment will be ongoing until teams find an ideal match. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the posting location for the duration of the internship. For more information about Epic’s Early Career Program, visit epicgames.com/earlycareers. This is going to be Epic!
Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company. For over 30 years we've been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent.
Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy here.
Note to Recruitment Agencies: Epic does not accept any unsolicited resumes or approaches from any unauthorized third party (including recruitment or placement agencies) (i.e., a third party with whom we do not have a negotiated and validly executed agreement). We will not pay any fees to any unauthorized third party. Further details on these matters can be found here.
Skills Required
- Strong C++ fundamentals, including memory management, pointers, and template fundamentals
- Understanding of data structures and memory layout and representation
- Interest in low-level systems programming, including file formats, binary data, compilers, or engine internals
- Rigorous and detail-oriented approach
- Comfort debugging unfamiliar code and methodically finding root causes
- Ability to explain technical designs and ask effective questions
- Self-driven, eager to learn, open to feedback, and committed to improving work
- Legally authorized to work in the posting location for the internship duration
Epic Games Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Epic Games and has not been reviewed or approved by Epic Games.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is described as comprehensive—often free—and includes medical, dental, vision, and access to therapy sessions. Feedback suggests these offerings are a standout element of the overall package.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Stock options and sizable bonuses are highlighted as meaningful parts of total compensation, with some describing pay as unmatched. Feedback suggests equity and incentives materially enhance perceived compensation.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous time off, paid holidays, and sabbaticals are referenced alongside improvements in work-life balance. Feedback suggests paid leave breadth helps offset demanding periods.
Epic Games Insights
What We Do
Founded in 1991, Epic Games is an American company founded by CEO Tim Sweeney. The company is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, and has more than 50 offices worldwide. Today Epic is a leading interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology. Epic operates one of the world’s largest games, Fortnite, and Epic has over 600 million accounts with over 5 billion friend connections across Fortnite, Fall Guys, Rocket League, and the Epic Games Store. Epic also develops Unreal Engine, which powers the world’s leading games and is also adopted across industries such as film and television, architecture, automotive, manufacturing, and simulation. Through Unreal Engine, Epic Games Store, and Epic Online Services, Epic provides an end-to-end digital ecosystem for developers and creators to build, distribute, and operate games and other content.
