How Epic Games Interviews in 2026: Process, Questions & What They Score

1. 01

   Traverse a matrix in spiral order and return its elements.

   Tests 2D array traversal with four shrinking boundaries and careful off-by-one handling.

2. 02

   Number of Islands: count connected regions in a grid.

   Tests grid DFS or BFS flood fill with visited-cell tracking to count connected components.

3. 03

   Word Search: find whether a word exists in a grid of letters.

   Tests grid backtracking with DFS, early pruning and restoring visited cells.

4. 04

   Implement A* pathfinding on a grid.

   Tests graph search with a priority queue, an admissible heuristic and correct grid neighbour handling.

5. 05

   How would you bring this from O(n^2) to O(n)?

   Tests spotting redundant work and trading memory for time with hashing, two pointers or prefix sums.

6. 06

   What is the performance cost of this?

   Tests reasoning about time complexity, allocations and cache behavior of code you just wrote.

7. 07

   Explain the difference between stack and heap memory allocation.

   Tests the C++ memory model: allocation cost, object lifetime, fragmentation and when each fits.

8. 08

   Compare smart pointers and raw pointers. When would you use unique_ptr, shared_ptr and weak_ptr?

   Tests C++ ownership: unique, shared and weak pointers, reference counting and ownership cycles.

9. 09

   What are virtual functions in C++, how do vtables work, and what does virtual dispatch cost?

   Tests how virtual dispatch works through vtables and its cost in memory and indirect calls.

10. 10

    Explain memory alignment and cache-friendly data layout.

    Tests alignment, padding and struct layout, and how data layout affects cache misses.

11. 11

    Describe move semantics (std::move) and their benefits.

    Tests rvalue references and std::move: avoiding deep copies and leaving moved-from objects valid.

12. 12

    Can you explain how memory fragmentation happens, and how to prevent it?

    Tests allocator knowledge: fragmentation causes plus pool or arena allocators as fixes.

13. 13

    Take-home: write an itoa-style integer-to-string conversion utility.

    Tests hand-written integer-to-string conversion: digit extraction, sign handling, INT_MIN and buffer sizing.

14. 14

    Take-home: matrix math for 3D transformations.

    Tests matrix multiplication and homogeneous transforms for translate, rotate and scale.

15. 15

    Take-home: fix the bugs (including memory management bugs) in a provided code sample.

    Tests reading unfamiliar C++ and finding memory bugs such as leaks, dangling pointers and double frees.

16. 16

    Take-home: implement a small game mechanic in C++.

    Tests structuring a small gameplay feature cleanly in C++: state updates, ownership and edge cases.

17. 17

    Walk me through your take-home solution: what mistakes did you make, how would it scale, and what would you add?

    Tests critique of your own code: error analysis, scaling limits and extending it live.

Reported problems, listed so you know what to expect. Practice them in your own editor or on the platform you prefer; SupaCV's practice mode coaches how you talk through them.

1. 01

   Design a Top-K leaderboard that serves millions of players.

   Tests ranking at scale: sorted sets or heaps, sharding, caching and eventual consistency.

2. 02

   Design a matchmaking system that handles players with varying skill levels at large scale.

   Tests matching design: skill rating, latency-aware queues, wait-time tradeoffs and scaling.

3. 03

   Design a content delivery system for distributing large game updates and assets globally with minimal latency.

   Tests content distribution: edge caching, delta patching, regional replication and invalidation.

4. 04

   Design a system to synchronize state for thousands of concurrent users in a shared virtual environment.

   Tests real-time replication: authoritative servers, interest management and latency budgets.

5. 05

   How would you handle anti-cheat in a competitive multiplayer game?

   Tests multiplayer security: server authority, input validation, anomaly detection and client trust.

6. 06

   Design a cross-platform save system that works across PC, console and mobile.

   Tests cloud save design: serialization versioning, account linking, conflict resolution and sync.

Reported problems, listed so you know what to expect. Practice them in your own editor or on the platform you prefer; SupaCV's practice mode coaches how you talk through them.

1. 01

   How would you find and isolate a memory leak in a large Unreal Engine project?

   Tests leak diagnosis with profilers and allocation tracking, plus object lifetime and GC reasoning.

2. 02

   Describe your approach to optimizing a game to run at 60 FPS on current-generation consoles.

   Tests profiling-led optimization of CPU and GPU frame budgets, draw calls, LOD and streaming.

3. 03

   Explain Unreal's garbage collector and Actor lifecycle and tick order.

   Tests Unreal internals: UObject garbage collection, Actor lifecycle events and tick ordering.

4. 04

   Explain the difference between Blueprints and C++ in Unreal Engine. When would you use one over the other?

   Tests Unreal workflow tradeoffs: Blueprint iteration speed versus C++ performance and maintainability.

Reported problems, listed so you know what to expect. Practice them in your own editor or on the platform you prefer; SupaCV's practice mode coaches how you talk through them.

1. 01

   Why do you want to work at Epic Games, specifically versus other gaming or engine companies?

2. 02

   What is your favorite game and how would you technically improve its performance?

3. 03

   What is your favorite Epic game or Unreal Engine feature, and how would you improve it?

4. 04

   Tell me about a technically challenging project you worked on and how you overcame the obstacles.

5. 05

   Walk us through your previous work and projects, including the successes and the failures.

6. 06

   How would you handle a critical bug discovered shortly before a scheduled release?

7. 07

   How have you collaborated with cross-functional partners such as artists and designers?

8. 08

   How do you balance innovation with shipping on schedule?

9. 09

   Describe a challenging aspect of working on a live service game such as Fortnite and how you would address it.