Update: Please note that previously communicated date of the Publishing portal planned downtime has been changed from April 14, 3 am ET to April 16, 3 am ET
Hi everyone. We’re planning to release some updates to product types over the coming weeks as part of our improvements to the site and product taxonomy.
Taxonomy changes
We are optimizing the taxonomy tree, removing redundancy in the categories and product types, consolidating the ones that are a bit too granular at the moment, and expanding the ones that are too general and difficult to navigate. Doing this helps us ensure that each part of the tree has enough meaningful content for the best possible browsing experience.
We want to make sure that Smart Assets are getting all the love they deserve, and this is why we are merging them into 3D models or Game Systems starting on April 14. 3D models and Games Systems are some of the most popular product types on Fab, and 3D models share the same taxonomy with Smart Assets. This means that many users don’t realize that when they search for something like ‘weapons’ within “3D models”, there is also a whole section of game-ready ‘weapons’ within “Smart assets” as well. The same goes for complex Smart Assets that would fit right in in the Game Systems scope.
We will also remove “Environments” as a product type and merge it with the “Scenes” category under 3D. This will be renamed to the “Environments” category to avoid confusion. All assets in the current “Environments” product type will be assigned with a ‘level” tag to help users differentiate between full playable levels—as this is what “environment” traditionally meant for Unreal users—and discrete elements that you can build your own levels with.
If you are a publisher on Fab, we encourage you to check your listings’ categorization logic after these changes go into effect. You are also welcome to update your product types or categories in advance of the changes. We’re sharing details here so you know the plan:
Smart Assets
Products currently under Smart Assets will be moved to either 3D Models or Game Systems product types.
Smart Asset products in the following categories will be moved to 3D Models:
- Characters & Creatures
- Weapons & Combat
- Vehicles & Transportation
- Furniture & Fixtures
- Clothing & Jewelry
- Food and drink
Smart Asset products in the following categories will be moved to Game Systems:
- Buildings & Architecture
- Electronics & Technology
- Nature & Plants
- Scenes
- Tools, Objects & Decor
We’ll also be adding some tags according to the following rules:
- If the listing is in “Characters & Creatures” and includes a UE format, then we will assign “AnimationBlueprint” and “Script” tags to the listing.
- If the listing includes a UE format, we will assign the “Blueprint” and “Script” tags.
- If the listing includes a Unity format, but not a UE format, we will assign a “Script” tag.
If the listing doesn’t include any engine formats (UE/Unity/UEFN), we will not apply any tags.
Environments
Products currently under the Environments product type will be moved to the 3D Models product type and put into a new “Environments” category, which will also include items currently in the “Scenes” category.
We will add the “Level” tag to any products that are moved as a result of this change.
Atlases and Decals
Products currently under the Atlases or Decals product type will be moved to the Materials & Textures product type and we will add an “Atlas” or “Decal” tag to them
Scenes
Products categorized as “Scenes” under 3D Models will be moved to the new “Environments” category under 3D Models
Assorted other categories
We will be merging a number of subcategories to help consolidate the category tree. A couple of examples:
- Under 2D and 3D product types, we will merge “Forest” into “Trees”
- Under HDRI, we will merge “Studios” into “Indoors”
We will also add some much needed subcategories for certain assets. For example:
- Under “Characters and creatures” → “Animals” subcategory, we’ll add “Mammals”, “Marine”, “Birds” and “Other” to help navigate almost 9k assets we currently have there
UE channel banner
As part of these changes, we’ll also be adding a new header section on the Unreal Engine channel that will provide some recommended tags for UE-ready assets. This will also enable users to filter by the recommended tags listed below:
- AnimationBlueprint
- Blueprint
- ControlRig
- EpicSkeleton
- EditorUtilities
- PCG
- Script
- Niagara
- Lumen
- Metasounds
- Nanite
- UMG
- Level
If any of the above tags are relevant to any of your assets, now’s a great time to review and update your listings with the new tags. Descriptive tagging can improve your products’ discoverability.
Please note that some of these updates will temporarily limit functionality on the Publishing Portal on April 14 upd. April 16 starting at 3:00am ET.
If functionality is limited, Fab users will still be able to find, download and purchase assets. However, publishers will be unable to view their listings, edit or delete listings, submit or publish listings, or migrate listings from Sketchfab to Fab.
Here’s the plan:
April 14 upd. April 16 - limited functionality in the Publishing Portal from 3am to 6am ET
We will update the UX and categorization of smart assets.
April 23 upd. The team has identified certain technical difficulties, the exact date to be announced soon - there should not be any impact to Publishing Portal functionality
We will update the categorization of atlases, and decals. We will also add the header section on the Unreal Engine channel at this time.
Mid-May - limited functionality in the Publishing Portal, exact date and time TBD
We will make the changes to the Environments product type along with some small changes to subcategories. We will update you on the exact date and time of this in advance of it happening.
Update (04/17/25)
With the changes that we made to product types and categories earlier this week, you may notice that some of your listings now appear in the ‘Update Draft’ tab of your Listings page. This behavior was expected, and there is nothing you need to do. Your listings are still live, and their visibility is not affected. The next time you make your update, the draft state will be resolved, and the listing will no longer be displayed under the ‘Update Draft’ tab. We expect that this will happen again during the next two rounds of taxonomy changes planned for next week and mid-May.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Fab Support.
Models with a 3D preview just get lost among all the others.