Epic has made Megascans free for everyone – but only until the end of 2024

Originally published September 17, 2024 and updated for Fab launch.

Epic Games is making content from Megascans, its popular online library of real-world 3D scanning data, free to everyone, not just Unreal Engine users.

With the launch of Fab, Epic's new “open marketplace” for stock CG content, users will be able to download and use Megascans content under the Fab Standard License.

The assets will remain free until the end of 2024, after which Epic will charge for most content, including for use in Unreal Engine projects.

Below you will find our FAQs about the changes.

What are Megascans?
Megascans is the “world’s largest scanned 3D asset library” and an online library of 3D scans of real-world objects such as rocks, plants, buildings and props, as well as materials and 2D textures.

The content is widely used across a range of markets including game development, architectural visualization, motion graphics, VFX and virtual production.

How has Megascans content previously been licensed?
Epic Games originally acquired Megascans in 2019 alongside original developer Quixel and made the content available for free use in projects built in Unreal Engine, its game engine.

Users of other game engines and DCC tools required a subscription to download and use Megascans assets, which were based on a points-based system.

Assets were originally downloaded via a free Bridge app or the built-in version in Unreal Engine, and were also used to download MetaHuman characters generated via MetaHuman Creator.

How has access to Megascans changed with the introduction of Fab?
That changes with the launch of Fab, as Megascans content moves from the Quixel website and Bridge to Fab and integrates with Unreal Engine.

By the end of 2024, the Megascans assets will be available free of charge under Fab's standard license for use in “all engines and tools”, including commercial projects, with the restrictions set out in the EULA.

Epic's blog post announcing the changes states: “When you purchase Quixel content on Fab – whether free or paid – you can use it forever.”

How much will Megascans content cost in the future?
However, in 2025, Epic will begin charging fees for Megascans assets “to support the continuous improvement, curation, and development of new Megascans content.”

“While we will continue to offer some content for free, most Megascans will no longer be available for free and unlimited use in Unreal Engine projects.”

Instead of being purchased with points, Megascan's assets are priced individually.

Pricing for individual 2D and 3D assets starts at $0.99, procedural asset kits at $4.99, and asset packages at $24.99.

Why is Epic making the changes to Megascans?
The change follows Epic's decision to start charging major studios subscription fees for using Unreal Engine in non-gaming projects after having to lay off 16% of its employees last year.

What happens to the Quixel Bridge?
As of October 22, 2024, the Bridge will no longer be available for download on the original product page on the Quixel website, which now redirects visitors to Fab.

What happens to Quixel Mixer?
Mixer, Quixel's free material authoring tool, is also no longer available for download as the old product webpage is redirected to Fab.

The software hasn't been updated since Mixer 2022.1 was released two years ago, with Epic suggesting at the time that it could be “one of the last updates to Mixer” in its current form.

Over 17,000 assets from the Megascans library are now available to download for free on Fab.

When will all Megascans content be available for free to everyone?
Epic had previously made all Megascans subscriptions free and stopped auto-renewing paid subscriptions.

This made it possible to take out a free subscription and download Megascans content via Bridge, albeit under the old Epic Content license, which only covers use in Unreal Engine.

With the launch of Fab, anyone can download the content under the new standard license by visiting the Quixel profile on the website.

You must add the content to your Fab Library for the new license to apply: just downloading the files is not enough.

At the time of writing, this needs to be done for each asset individually, but Epic is “working on a solution” to add all megascans to your library at once.

How many assets are available for free?
According to Epic, there are over 17,000 free assets from the original Megascans library, as well as 10 additional asset packs released with the launch of Fab.

Fab users can also download all Megascans released until the end of 2024 for free.

Read Epic Games' FAQs about the free Megascans assets

Read Epic Games' FAQs for the broader changes to Megascans

Have your say on this story by following the CG channel on Facebook, Instagram and more X (formerly Twitter). In addition to commenting on stories, followers of our social media accounts can also see videos that we do not publish on the website itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX films, animations, game films and motion graphics -Projects.