M&A Friday: Epic acquires famed art community ArtStation

M&A Friday: Epic acquires famed art community ArtStation

And Oculus grabs another VR developer

One of the top art community sites on the planet is ArtStation. It’s helped not only foster some creative conversations, but has also launched careers and developed sources of for thousands of artists. Now, it has a new owner, and things might be a bit better for the end user because of it. Epic Games, the creators behind Unreal Engine (and Fortnite, if you’ve heard of it) have purchased the website, adding it to its growing cabinet of properties. This may be a terrific fit, as Epic is in need of more creative showcases and ways to get its software out in front of the multimedia industry easier. By tying in ArtStation it acquires not only a website but a massive community as well, and can tie itself to the multitude of talent behind it. Not only that, but since ArtStation serves as a fantastic locale for artists to sell 2D art, it could also now be a solid place for 3D and interactive art sales, too. Epic is even lowering the cut that ArtStation will take from 30% to 12%.

Facebook didn’t want to be left out of the acquisition fest either, as they’ve bought Downpour Interactive, developers of the VR FPS Onward. Downpour will now exclusively develop games for Facebook’s Oculus projects. Both companies hailed the community-building that Downpour has managed over the years, and how that will be a huge benefit to Oculus as it looks to grow multiplayer experiences in VR. The financial details weren’t revealed for the purchase.