Why It’s Time to Pay for Megascans: A Hard Truth
Epic Games' Announcement: A Shift for Quixel Megascans Users
The recent announcement that Epic Games is moving Quixel Megascans to Fab and ending its free access for Unreal Engine users in 2025 has stirred up quite a bit of anxiety within the community. Since Epic acquired Quixel back in November 2019, artists, designers, and developers have enjoyed an incredible library of high-quality 3D assets—absolutely free. It was a game-changer for the industry, democratizing access to top-tier resources and allowing countless indie developers and small studios to elevate their work without breaking the bank.
But let's be real for a moment: Did we honestly think this was going to last forever? The fact that Quixel Megascans were available for free for this long is a gift that the industry has perhaps taken for granted. For nearly five years, Epic Games has poured resources into maintaining and expanding a library that anyone could use for commercial projects, asking for nothing in return but platform loyalty. That’s an incredible deal, and it has empowered thousands of creators to bring their visions to life.
Quality Comes at a Cost
However, the reality is that producing, curating, and updating a library like Megascans isn’t cheap. High-quality assets don’t just materialize out of thin air—they require talented artists, sophisticated technology, and substantial investment. It's only fair that at some point, there needs to be a way to sustain that level of quality and innovation. Moving Quixel Megascans to Fab and introducing a pricing structure in 2025 is a logical step for Epic Games to continue delivering top-notch resources.
Let's also not forget that Unreal Engine itself remains free for most of us—another massive gift from Epic that we’ve all been benefiting from. Even now, Epic has left us a loophole: we can download everything from Fab until the end of the year and keep it forever. (This affects everyone, not just Unreal Engine users.) Think about that for a second. It’s like getting a library with thousands of high-quality models, textures, and assets for the price of an extra hard drive. That’s still an incredible deal.
Epic's Ecosystem: Still Unmatched in Value
Sure, some people will complain, but I bet 99% won’t seek alternatives because Epic Games is still giving far more value than any other option out there. The combination of Unreal Engine, the assets from Quixel, and the ecosystem Epic provides is unmatched in its quality, accessibility, and potential for creators. For a moment, let's remember the pricing changes Unity proposed last year…
We’ve had an incredible run of free access that has helped countless projects get off the ground. The fact that we had this for so long is a testament to Epic Games’ commitment to fostering creativity in the community. Instead of complaining about the end of an era, perhaps it’s time to appreciate what we've had and understand that paying for Megascans is investing back into a tool that has already given us so much.
The reality is simple: quality has a price, and it’s about time we recognize that. Epic Games has given us the opportunity to build amazing worlds for free—now it’s our turn to contribute back to the tools that helped us get here.
