Epic Games have been on a roll lately, they have recently announced a new storefront that cuts down revenue lost for developers, and now they have acquired 3lateral, a graphics-based team which focuses on creating digital humans, photorealistic models.
Graphics in games are getting more impressive with each passing year, so there is no doubt Epic Games wants someone really good at creating photorealistic graphics in their corner like the fine folks at 3lateral.
Some notable work they have done is ‘A Boy and His Kite’ (designed to show off Unreal Engine’s open world potential), the performance capture in the BAFTA-winning Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice by Ninja Theory, and real-time, photorealistic demos such as Siren and Digital Andy Serkis.
Founder and director of 3lateral Vladimir Mastilovic had this to say about the deal:
“Creating digital humans requires deep understanding of every aspect of our appearance and motion, both of which portray our inner self and tell stories around us,” says Mastilovic. “We read all these visual cues with great precision as instinct to analyse an image of another human being is deeply embedded in our DNA.
“Observing, analysing and reconstructing these mechanisms has always fascinated us at 3Lateral, and we are excited to have joined a like-minded team at Epic Games with such strong desire to solve this near impossible problem.”
Epic CEO and founder Tim Sweeney added:
“Real-time 3D experiences are reshaping the entire entertainment industry, and digital human technology is at the forefront. Fortnite shows that 200 million people can experience a 3D world together. Reaching the next level requires capturing, personalising, and conveying individual human faces and emotions.”
With the acquirement of 3lateral for Epic, it will be interesting to see what type of work they have come out in the future.
