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Epic Acquires Facial Animation Tech Company Behind Titles Like God of War and Spider-Man

Fortnite maker Epic Games has acquired facial animation technology company, Cubic Motion. The British studio was behind facial animation in titles like God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Marvel’s Spider-Man.

“Together, we’ll push the boundaries of digital human technology, bringing ever more realism and immersive content to all forms of visual entertainment,” Cubic Motion wrote in a press release. “Our commitment to servicing the needs of the video game industry remains unchanged – we intend to remain the partner of choice for developers who need the most compelling digital characters.”

Cubic Motion’s current clients range from Sony first-party studios to Activision and Electronic Arts.

“Digital humans are not only the next frontier of content creation, but also the most complex endeavor in computer graphics,” said Epic Games founder and CEO, Tim Sweeney. “With Cubic Motion bringing their computer vision and animation technology and expertise to our digital human efforts, Epic along with our team at 3Lateral are one step closer to democratizing these capabilities for creators everywhere.”

Epic Games acquired 3Lateral back in 2019. The company has been on a bit of a shopping spree lately, which includes its acquisition of art tools manufacturer Quixel and purchase of Rocket League developer Psyonix.

“Facial animation that conveys the slightest nuance of human expression is essential to crossing the uncanny valley,” added Epic Games’ CTO, Kim Libreri. “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.”

[Source: VentureBeat, GamesIndustry]

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