Epic Games, the studio behind the massively popular battle royale game Fortnite and the widely used Unreal Engine, has acquired Meshcapade, a pioneering company specializing in AI-driven digital human technology. The deal, announced on February 18, 2026, was for an undisclosed amount. This move underscores Epic's ongoing investment in advancing realistic character creation and animation tools for gaming, film, and virtual production.
Meshcapade, a spin-off from Germany's Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, has developed innovative AI-based solutions that generate highly accurate 3D motion and body shape data directly from video footage. The company's technology transforms ordinary video recordings—capturing everything from subtle social gestures to intense dynamic actions—into precise, high-fidelity 3D data that can be seamlessly integrated into creative workflows.
Co-founder Naureen Mahmood said the goal from the beginning was to make "developing digital humans easier, more expressive, and more accessible for creators."
The Meshcapade technology uses machine learning and AI to model humans with what they claim is more nuance than what was previously possible. A key differentiator for Meshcapade is how it can model 3D human motion straight from standard videos. This is said to be more cost-effective and faster than earlier and different systems for creating digital humans.
"The Meshcapade booth at industry events soon became a star attraction for animators from leading game and film studios," Talha Zaman, the company's other founder, said. According to Zaman, the company attracted new clients largely through word-of-mouth recommendations rather than aggressive marketing, highlighting the strong reputation its tools built within professional creative communities.
Meshcapade's origins trace back to cutting-edge research at the Max Planck Institute, where foundational work on AI-driven human modeling laid the groundwork for its commercial products. Patrick Cramer, president of the Max Planck Society, described the acquisition as "truly remarkable," noting how it demonstrates the rapid translation of basic scientific research into globally impactful practical applications.
As part of the acquisition, the Meshcapade team will join Epic Games' AI Research group. Their expertise will contribute to enhancing technologies like Unreal Engine and MetaHuman, Epic's platform for creating hyper-realistic digital characters. Epic's chief technology officer, Kim Libreri, emphasized the strategic value of the move, stating: “We want to lower the barriers to creating believable, expressive digital characters and make them usable in real time across a wide range of experiences,” “Bringing Meshcapade's talented team and industry-leading technologies to Epic will help give creators across gaming, film and virtual production industries new specialized tools for developing digital humans.”
The acquisition also marks a significant expansion for Epic in Europe. The company plans to establish a new office in Tübingen, Germany—home to Meshcapade—giving Epic its first foothold in Cyber Valley, a prominent AI and tech ecosystem in the region. Bram Wijlands from Max Planck Innovation highlighted the broader implications, calling the deal a clear signal that "AI Made in Germany" can scale locally while competing on the global stage.
This acquisition aligns with Epic's long-term vision of pushing the boundaries of digital creation. By integrating advanced motion capture and modeling capabilities from video sources, Epic aims to make high-quality digital humans more accessible to developers and artists worldwide. The addition of Meshcapade's talent and innovations is expected to accelerate progress in areas such as character animation for Fortnite, virtual production in film, and broader metaverse-like applications. The enhanced tools could enable more lifelike avatars and NPCs in real-time environments, potentially elevating player experiences in Fortnite and opening new possibilities for interactive storytelling across Epic's ecosystem.
With this strategic buy, Epic Games continues to strengthen its position as a leader in AI-enhanced creative tools, potentially transforming how digital characters are built and animated across entertainment industries. The integration of Meshcapade's video-to-3D motion technology is poised to streamline workflows that once required expensive motion-capture rigs or time-intensive manual adjustments, democratizing access to professional-grade digital human creation.
