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Epic Is Quietly Taking Over the Future of Game (and Movie) Production
There’s a vast pipeline of tools to create video games, movies, and TV shows. Epic wants to own it all.
Epic Games, the company behind the colossally popular and profitable Fortnite, is no stranger to game development infrastructure. It makes the widely-used Unreal Engine, which hundreds of games have used over the last couple decades. But Epic wants to do more than just own the game engine.
So, Epic has been going shopping.
Today, Epic announced it is acquiring SketchFab, a digital marketplace and sharing hub for 3D models. From professionally-designed 3D asset packs for use in game development, to independent artists making highly-detailed replicas of Dinobot from Beast Wars because they feel like it. Think of it like Shutterstock, but for 3D models, where anyone can upload and sell, or even give away their models for free.
For Epic, the acquisition makes sense. Smaller studios or developers who want to make games–but don’t have a ton of money to throw at designing every asset from scratch–can buy models from SketchFab to use in Unreal Engine. And now, Epic gets a cut at both steps.
