Epic Games has made yet another acquisition, this time the creators of the Unreal Engine and Battle Royale sensationFortnitehas acquired Cubic Motion. Those unaware, Cubic Motion has been behind the facial animation technology that we’ve seen showcased inGod of WarandHellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.The company has also worked with EA Dice, Treyarch, HBO, and more.
Epic Games' Chief Technology Officer, Kim Libreri said “Facial animation that conveys the slightest nuance of human expression is essential to crossing the uncanny valley. We believe that holistically combining Epic’s Unreal Engine with 3Lateral’s facial rig creation and Cubic Motion’s solving technology is the only way to answer this challenge, and ultimately, to reach the pinnacle of digital human artistry with Unreal Engine,”
Cubic Motion is apparently still to continue working with its existing customers and partners, and employees are said to be staying on with Epic Games. Cubic Motion finds Epic Games arriving in Manchester, UK. The Unreal Engine company has been expanding across the UK, with offices in Royal Leamington Spa, Newcastle, and Guildford.
Cubic' Motion’sofficial announcementstates that “The combination unites the world’s most powerful game engine and the world-leading character creation technology of 3Lateral, with Cubic’s state-of-the-art vision and animation technology.” The statement continues, “we look forward with excitement to this new chapter in our story,” I’m personally excited to see how this technology is going to improve and benefit video games, potentially ones on the indie scene too.
Epic Games has been acquiring companies left, right, and center since last year. 3Lateral, Agog Labs,Psyonix, Twinmotion, Houseparty, andQuixelare all now part of the company’s acquisitions. They have also seen their Unreal Engine technology used tocapture over 50% of Disney’sThe Mandalorianusing a digital setthat moves with the video camera movement.
