Startups

Epic Games Adds Cubic Motion Startup To Company Portfolio

“Fortnite” maker Epic Games bought facial animation tech startup Cubic Motion, the company announced Thursday.

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Cubic Motion’s technology helps make facial animation in video games and movies more lifelike. The startup’s tech has been used for other games including Insomniac Games’ “Marvel’s Spider-Man” and Sony Interactive Entertainment’s “God of War.”

The startup, which is based in Manchester, United Kingdom, has more than $20 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. Epic Games did not disclose a purchase price.

The acquisition of Cubic Motion will complement 3Lateral, another company Epic Games bought in January 2019, the company said in a statement. 3Lateral makes technology to digitize human appearance and motion to look lifelike.

“Digital humans are not only the next frontier of content creation, but also the most complex endeavor in computer graphics,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said in a statement. “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.”

Cubic Motion is Epic Games’ ninth acquisition to date, according to Crunchbase. Its last acquisition was Quixel in November 2019.

Based in Cary, North Carolina, Epic Games makes video games including “Fortnite” and “Infinity Blade.” It also makes Unreal Engine, a suite of tools for game development.

Epic Games’ investors include Tencent Holdings and Vulcan Capital, according to Crunchbase.

Illustration Credit: Li-Anne Dias

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