3D hosting service Sketchfab is now part of Epic Games.
The acquisition gives Epic Games, makers of the Unreal Engine, a popular 3D asset hosting service and a major piece of the puzzle for an “interconnected Metaverse”, as the companies put it in a joint announcement.
“We built Sketchfab with a mission to empower a new era of creativity and provide a service for creators to showcase their work online and make 3D content accessible,” said Alban Denoyel, CEO and co-founder of Sketchfab, in a prepared statement.
Earlier this year Google closed down its own 3D object hosting service Poly as the company continues to bleed talent in VR and AR researchers.
“The Sketchfab team has done an incredible job opening up the world of 3D content on the web and enabling anyone to edit and publish content online,” said Marc Petit, VP and General Manager of Unreal Engine, in a prepared statement. “As the adoption of real-time 3D technology continues to grow, demand for web-based solutions will only increase.”
Sketchfab hosts 4 million 3D assets and “has integrations across every major 3D creation tool and publishing platform and is compatible across all major browsers and operating systems, on both desktop and mobile,” according to an announcement. Sketchfab will be reducing its store fees to 12 percent in connection with the change.