Epic Games has steadily grown over the years due to its games and its own Epic Game Store. While the company continues to develop and support games like the popular Fortnite, it has been making several acquisitions, as well.
The art platform ArtStation recently announced it had joined with Epic Games, which made a similar announcement. Both posts state that the deal was made to help advance the development and growth of the global creator community. ArtStation explains that the platform will still be dedicated to the goal of empowering creators and expanding its community.
Both ArtStation and Epic Games stated that it will continue to operate as an independently branded platform while collaborating with the Unreal Engine team. It will still continue its mission of supporting creators with the tools they need to succeed. Artists will be able to use the platform as they normally do, and it will continue to be open to creators whether they use Epic Games' Unreal Engine or not.
According to the posts, Epic Games' acquisition will enable more support for creators on ArtStation with more tools, resources, and connections. Starting today, ArtStation will be reducing the ArtStation Marketplace fees, allowing creators to have more value on the platform. The post stated it will drop the fees from the standard 30% to 12%, then 20% to 8% for pro members, and 5% for self-promoted sales.
The post also states that ArtStation Learning will be free for all users for the rest of 2021. Creators will be able to use the streaming video service with unlimited access to the growing content library produced by industry professionals. With it, creators can expand their skills in different art topics and acquire new ones.
Of course, people will have their concerns about the deal and what it entails for the artists who use ArtStation, and the post provides some answers. ArtStation will not become a game-focused platform; it will remain available to all artists regardless of their art's medium or genre. Now that it's a part of Epic Games, ArtStation is planning to grow its team and is currently hiring to improve the platform and add new features for its community.
ArtStation has also updated its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and users will be asked to read and review them when they log in to their account. According to the post, the language will be relatively unchanged, but due to the acquisition, the terms and policy are also in agreement with Epic Games. Whereas before, the agreement was with Ballistiq Digital Inc, the company that previously owned ArtStation.
Source: ArtStation