Epic launches combined Fab marketplace amid confusion and backlash from artists and developers

Fab,
the
new
unified
marketplace
from
Epic
Games
is
launching
today,
combining
the
offerings
of
Unreal
Engine
Marketplace,
Sketchfab
Store
and
Quixel.

As
announced
way
back
at
GDC
2023,
the
Fortnite
firm
is
bringing
together
the
four
stores
it
owns
for
3D
models
and
other
development
assets
into
one
place,
with
plans
to
integrate
ArtStation’s
marketplace
next
year.

The
new
Fab
site
allows
developers
to
buy
and
download
tens
of
thousands
of
game
assets,
3D
environments,
visual
effects,
music
and
sound
effects,
character
models,
animations
and
more.
Assets
are
organised
into
categories,
with
users
able
to
filter
for
products
specifically
for
Unreal
Engine,
Unreal
Engine
for
Fortnite
or
Unity
(in
addition
to
Epic’s
main
rival,
these
are
plans
to
support
assets
for
Godot
and
even
user-generated
content
to
titles
like
Roblox
and
Minecraft).

A
real-time
3D
viewer
also
enables
developers
to
fully
inspect
the
assets
they’re
interested
in
before
purchase.
Finally,
a
plug-in
for
Unreal
Engine
lets
developers
bring
their
purchases
directly
into
the
project
they’re
working
on.
Social
and
community
features
are
limited
at
present,
but
Epic
plans
to
expand
these
over
time.

However,
the
launch
comes
amid
confusion
and
outrage
among
developers,
particularly
within
the
Sketchfab
community
as
concerns
are
raised
that
the
migration
to
Fab
will
result
in
the
removal
of
over
a
decade’s
worth
of
creations.
Multiple
Reddit
threads
on
r/Sketchfab
have
been
dedicated
to
the
issues
with
moving
content
over
to
Fab,
as
well
as
the
new
store’s
lack
of
features
compared
to
that
of
the
previous
marketplace.

The
chief
concern
is
that
the
ability
to
download
content
from
Sketchfab
will
be
removed
at
some
point
in
2025,
as
stated
in
an
email
from
Epic
to
the
site’s
users.
The
platform
has
become
an
essential
resource
for
artists,
as
well
as
museums
and
universities,
to
share
and
host
digital
collections
of
3D
models.

The
fear
is
that
this
content
will
eventually
be
removed
if
it
is
not
migrated
to
Fab,
but
Epic
tells

GamesIndustry.biz
that
this
will
not
be
the
case;
while
the
Sketchfab
Store
is
moving
over,
the
bulk
of
the
website
itself
will
remain
untouched.

“We’re
definitely
not
deleting
anyone’s
content,
it’s
not
ours
to
delete,”
says
Bill
Clifford,
Epic’s
vice
president
and
general
manager
for
creator
marketplaces.
“As
we’ve
made
clear
in
our
communications,
nothing
is
going
to
change
on
Sketchfab
today
outside
of
the
store.

“All
the
utilities
that
Sketchfab
delivers
in
terms
of
being
really
one
of
the
few
places
where
you
can
upload,
view,
and
share
3D
models
on
the
web
–
either
publicly
or
privately
–
that’s
not
going
anywhere
anytime
soon.
In
fact,
we
want
to
invest
a
lot
in
that
capability.”

Clifford
further
clarifies
that,
while
the
Sketchfab
Store
is
closed
for
business
as
of
today,
the
listings
will
remain
live
for
some
time,
linking
people
to
the
Fab
pages
of
the
same
products
(assuming
developers
have
migrated
them.
If
they
have
not,
they
will
need
to
do
so
in
order
to
continue
selling
these
assets).
Anything
users
have
bought
from
Sketchfab,
or
any
of
the
other
marketplaces
being
combined
into
Fab,
will
be
available
via
their
account.

The
Epic
exec
also
acknowledged
complaints
from
the
Sketchfab
community
that
certain
formats
and
licence
types
cannot
be
migrated
yet,
assuring
that
new
ones
will
be
continually
added
over
time.

Nonetheless,
Sketchfab
artists
are
lobbying
against
the
new
store
with
a

Change.org
petition
started
by
American
folk
art
specialist
Emily
Esser
calling
for
the
site
to
be
kept
alive,
if
only
to
preserve
the
more
than
100,000
3D
models
from
historians
and
cultural
heritage
societies.
At
the
time
of
writing,
the
petition
has
399
signatures.

In
its
rallying
cry
against
the
migration,
the
petition
suggests
that
changes
to
Sketchfab
–
including
the
removal
of
the
ability
to
download
free
models
–
is
“the
virtual
equivalent
of
burning
the
Library
of
Alexandria.”

To
this,
Clifford
responds:
“We
have
no
intention
of
burning
any
libraries.
Change
is
tough
and
we’ve
tried
to
be
extremely
clear
and
concise
in
our
communications,
and
I
think
sometimes
it’s
easily
misinterpreted,
especially
as
you
go
deeper
and
deeper
into
Reddit
threads.

“We
actually
reached
out
to
the
cultural
heritage
community
on
Sketchfab.
We’re
speaking
to
them
directly
and
answering
any
questions.
Their
models
will
still
be
available
on
Sketchfab
for
discovery
and
download.”

“We’re
definitely
not
deleting
anyone’s
content
–
it’s
not
ours
to
delete”

He
continues:
“Preserving
someone’s
work
is
paramount
to
us.
The
fact
that
Sketchfab
has
become
one
of
the
only
places
[for
this
content]
because
of
the
utility
that
the
platform
offers
where
you
can
upload
a
scan
of
a
historical
object,
or
recreate
it
as
a
3D
model,
and
have
it
live
on
a
platform
that
makes
that
model
very
easily
consumable
over
a
web
page
–
that
has
been
unique
for
years
and
it’s
important.”

Similarly,
he
assures
that
ArtStation
–
which
will
see
its
store
migrated
into
Fab
during
2025
–
will
also
remain
largely
the
same
and
that
“the
brand
as
a
site
is
never
going
to
go
away.”

“ArtStation
is
a
very
important
platform
for
the
creator
ecosystem
and
the
digital
artist
community,”
Clifford
explains.
“It’s
the
place
where
you
host
your
portfolio,
where
you
can
find
work.
It’s
the
place
where
most
game
studios,
visual
effects
studios,
virtual
production
companies
–
all
these
different
industries
–
go
to
recruit.
So
ArtStation
is
really
important
as
a
platform
to
help
creators
thrive.”

He
pointed
to
ArtStation
as
an
example
of
how
Epic
is
aiming
to
create
a
“bidirectional
relationship”
between
Fab
and
the
sites
whose
stores
it
has
replaced.
Creator
and
publisher
pages
on
Fab
have
the
option
of
including
links
to
their
ArtStation
portfolios,
so
customers
who
enjoy
their
products
or
perhaps
want
to
hire
them
can
click
through
and
find
their
profile
on
the
original
site.

The
confusion
could
perhaps
be
attributed
to
miscommunication
on
Epic’s
part,
but
Clifford
tells
us
he’s
“not
sure
there’s
much
more
we
could
have
done.”
The
Fab
store
was
announced
at
GDC
2023,
with
updates
delivered
both
via
blog
posts
and
forum
posts,
as
well
as
direct
communication
with
some
of
the
users
on
each
of
the
sites.

An
Epic
spokesperson
adds
that
this
is
the
initial
phase
of
Fab’s
launch,
for
which
Epic
has
been
“mostly
focused
on
those
who
are
immediately
impacted,”
such
as
sellers.
As
efforts
around
Fab
continue
to
expand,
the
company
will
be
reaching
out
to
a
wider
range
of
users
to
“provide
more
granular
detail
on
what’s
changing.”

“When
it
comes
to
selling
digital
assets,
it’s
a
pretty
large
total
addressable
market
spread
out
across
a
lot
of
subscale
marketplaces.
We
think
the
market
really
needs
this
single
destination”

Nevertheless,
concerns
remain
within
the
artist
community.
Common
themes
among
complaints
are
companies
like
Epic
being
driven
by
profit
and
that
decisions
around
consolidating
four
marketplaces
into
one
will
be
made
with
that
in
mind.

This
is
perhaps
understandable
given
the
approach
to
Quixel.
The
site
hosted
over
17,000
‘Megascans’
of
highly
detailed
3D
models,
all
of
which
can
be
downloaded
for
free
in
a
single
package
until
the
end
of
2024.
After
this,
a
“cross-section
of
the
Megascans
library”
will
be
made
available
free
for
all
users.

Artists
also
still
question
what
happens
to
all
Sketchfab
content,
as
well
as
that
of
the
other
marketplaces,
beyond
2025.

But
Clifford
maintains
that
the
unified
Fab
store
will
ultimately
benefit
both
creators
and
their
customers.

“The
reality
is
when
it
comes
to
selling
digital
assets,
it’s
a
pretty
large
total
addressable
market
but
it’s
spread
out
across
a
very
long
tail
of
subscale
marketplaces,”
he
says.
“So
we
think
the
market
really
needs
this
single
destination
where
you
can
go
to
discover,
share,
buy,
and
sell
content.”

He
adds
that
Fab
could
even
introduce
creators
from
the
four
previous
stores
to
new
audiences,
especially
given
the
growing
number
of
industries
using
Unreal
Engine
outside
of
games
development,
including
automotive,
architecture,
digital
advertising,
and
virtual
production
for
film
and
TV.

“Yes,
there
are
some
small
but
very
passionate
and
vocal
communities
that
have
surfaced
[around
Fab’s
launch],”
he
said.
“But
we’ve
had
overwhelmingly
positive
feedback
from
many
people
in
our
ecosystem.
The
majority
are
really
excited
about
this
change
because
we’re
bringing
them
things
they’ve
been
asking
us
to
do
on
Unreal
Marketplace
for
years
but
we
haven’t
invested
enough
there
and
now
we’ve
made
these
investments.

“It’s
also
early.
We
have
built
the
foundation
that
we’re
launching
today
that
I
think
is
a
big
step
forward
for
many
of
our
creators.
But
we
have
a
lot
of
work
to
do
in
2025
and
beyond.”