Spire Animation Studios has closed a $20 million funding round which includes an investment from Epic Games.
The studio will use Epic’s Unreal Engine to produce animated features, as well as build “worlds and experiences for the metaverse.” The studio had previously said it was using a real-time workflow based in the cloud and built on “a popular, state-of-the-art game engine.”
This set-up will let Spire port assets from its films into the metaverse where audiences will engage with them, in what studio co-founder and CEO P.J. Gunsagar calls “meta-distribution.” He says, “Audiences will live and interact authentically and persistently with characters and worlds without having to wait years after a movie’s release. Story-living through vr, ar, and metaverse experiences is the future.”
