Archive notice: This article was originally published on 13 November 2019. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
For once, this comes with a positive feeling: Epic Games is acquiring Quixel, which had already entered into several collaborations with Epic through its large PBR scan library “Megascans” and asset tools “Bridge” and “Mixer“. With the acquisition, the entire Megascans library is now free for Unreal Engine users and also considerably cheaper for all other users outside UE. And to round off the good news, the next releases of Bridge and Mixer 2020 will be 100% free, also for all users.
The Future of Megascans
The Megascans library now contains more than 10,000 assets and is free for use with Unreal Engine. Anyone using Megascans with UE4 therefore receives free, unlimited and immediate access to all assets through Bridge and Mixer. Several Megascans packs are also available on the Unreal Engine Marketplace, and 10 of them were made available for free today. Further packs will follow with the release of Unreal Engine 4.24. Anyone who uses Megascans only with UE4 can also have all 2019 subscriptions refunded.
The new Megascans prices also bring major advantages for non-UE4 users. The subscription models now include roughly twice as much content and are available without resolution restrictions. The “Personal” subscription now includes 90 points per month at 8K resolution for $19 per month. And so that nobody has too much reason to be annoyed, anyone who wants to continue with the new plan will receive a refund for the remaining term of an existing subscription.
Bridge and Mixer 2020
The forthcoming 2020 versions of Bridge and Mixer are 100% free for all users, without a subscription and with the complete feature set. According to Quixel, both Mixer, originally planned as a standalone application for 99 US dollars, and Bridge will be released in a few weeks. Mixer 2020, which Epic now also views as a competitor to the Substance tools, is expected to add 3D painting, real-time 3D curvature, Smart Materials and more in the coming version. The update is correspondingly intended to simplify PBR painting and procedural material authoring.
Further information: Quixel blog and Epic Games website
