Epic Gamesis seemingly attempting to diversify its portfolio much like many other gaming companies as of late.Epic Gamesrecently decided to invest in an animation film studio that should solidify the company’s metaverse aspirations.
Epic Games made the decision to invest $20 million into Spire Animation Studios, which was co-founded by formerRatatouilleandHow to Train Your Dragonproducer Brad Lewis. The studio is reportedly planning to make use of the Unreal Engine in its future feature film animation projects. It will not be the Epic Games creation platform’s first foray into film and TV, as the Unreal Engine has already been used in the production of bothThe MandalorianandThe Book of Boba Fett.
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P.J. Gunsagar, the other co-founder of Spire Animation Studios, stated that the partnership will allow for meta-distribution. Gunsagar stated that this will allow audiences will be able to authentically engage with a film or TV show’s characters and world within the metaverse. The first project set to come out of the partnership will be an animated feature film calledTrouble,which will be made with Danny McBride’s Rough House Pictures.
The company seems to be staking its claim on more than one industry, asthe Epic Games Store is soon to be approaching 200 million users. The company gained over 34 million users over the course of last year. The platform’s constant offer of free games is a huge draw to many users, as the Epic Games Store’s main competitor, Steam, hardly ever offers games for free.
Epic Games is not the only company seeking to make waves in the film industry.Sony has plans to turn some Bungie Game Franchises into movies. Sony CFO, Hiroki Totoki, has confirmed Sony’s interest in possibly turning Bungie’s IPs likeDestinyinto film franchises.
Microsoft is also interested in branching out into the metaverse. The company has noted that applications like Microsoft Teams are hoping to integrate Mixed Reality headsets so that users will be able to interact with one another in a virtual space through a webcam or customized 3D avatar.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the metaverse in the near future considering the number of large companies investing heavily in the venture.
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