Hi everyone,
Once again, I’d like to share some thoughts as a professional game developer working on commercial projects. It’s becoming clear that the development process is being impacted in countless ways by the sheer lack of care and responsibility from Epic Games and their teams managing the UE Marketplace, Fab, and even Quixel.
My Quixel Bridge workflow is gone. GONE!
I genuinely thought they would at least keep Bridge available for us developers who have relied on it for years, ever since its debut with UE4. But no, they went ahead and moved the library to Fab, which, frankly, is a disaster. Fab is a masterclass in amateur marketplace design, poor web development, and subpar integration with industry standards. It shows a glaring disconnect from the needs of the people who actually invest in and support the ecosystem required for a platform like Fab to survive or thrive.
Fab lacks everything we need. EVERYTHING!
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The curated collections created by the Quixel team? GONE.
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Helpful filters for environments, vegetation, or even decals? GONE.
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Meaningful details like models scaled next to a human figure? GONE.
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A somewhat decent grid interface for visualizing model thumbnails? GONE.
I’m not saying Quixel Bridge was perfect, it wasn’t. Epic has always been amateurish when it comes to content distribution for professionals and companies. But Bridge was a viable suite of tools for any UE developer, especially for those working on photorealistic games or environments. It was also crucial for understanding how to integrate Megascans assets into projects efficiently.
What’s needed? What can be done?
Ideally, there should be a dedicated, high-quality environment for Megascans assets and all things Quixel. The Quixel team is outstanding, their work is incredible, and their products deserve to be presented in a carefully designed interface tailored to Unreal Engine developers. It could include minor export tools for other software, but the focus should be on those of us who have invested significant time and money into their ecosystem.
But since that seems unlikely, considering the mess we’ve seen with Fab, the least they could do is bring back the features we relied on in Quixel Bridge. Reintroduce proper filtering systems, curated collections, and intuitive tools, even if it’s within Fab. Mimicking the functionality of Bridge is the bare minimum they should strive for.
Truth be told, Epic should be ashamed of themselves and I know they’re not. That’s the beginning of their villain arc.