ArtStation has joined the Epic Games family. That’s how today, on April 30, both companies announced a deal that took place, according to which the developer of Unreal Engine becomes the owner of a social network for digital artists.
Detailed information about the terms of the concluded contract is not reported. There is no data on the amount of the transaction. However, both sides emphasize that ArtStation will remain an operationally independent platform and will continue its mission — to develop the potential of creative people.
Its policy will also remain unchanged. It will continue to be a platform open to authors of any verticals: including those who draw only in 2D, and those who do not use Unreal Engine tools in their work.
At the same time, the company is going to actively take up hiring staff. In part, this is echoed by Epic Games, which stated that together they will be able to seriously increase the number of the artist community and expand the functionality of the platform.
The purchase occurred against the background of ArtStation receiving a sum of money as part of Epic Games Megagrant a year earlier. As representatives of the platform write, Epic Games provided the team with money at the peak of the pandemic, which helped immensely.
Ordinary ArtStation users can already see the first advantages of the deal. Starting today, the commission in the ArtStation Marketplace, where artists sell their works, is reduced to 12%. Also, until the end of 2021, the ArtStation Learning service, the tutorial section of the platform, becomes free for everyone.
ArtStation is a platform for communication between artists, as well as a place where they share their work, form a portfolio, study, look for people close in spirit, as well as, of course, clients and other work opportunities. There is a similar platform in Russia — Render.ru .