3Lateral

What 3Lateral does

3Lateral is a digital character creation and animation studio providing end-to-end production services for AAA game development and blockbuster linear content productions. Founded in 2012 in Novi Sad, Serbia, the company operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Epic Games, Inc. following its 2019 acquisition, with Cubic Motion merged into the brand in 2020. Its services span the full character production pipeline — 3D/4D scanning, modeling, texturing, rigging, shader development, mocap, and animation delivery — targeting narrative-focused AAA game studios (Guerrilla, Capcom, Ninja Theory, Kojima Productions, Insomniac, BioWare, Respawn, Santa Monica Studio, Supermassive, Riot Games) and select film/VFX and live broadcast clients. The company has delivered character work on more than 25 AAA titles.

The company's technology stack is built around proprietary 4D data capture and animation systems, including the SUNFLOWER scanning framework, the Rig Logic real-time facial solver (which compresses animation input to approximately 200 parameters), the Gene Splicer parametric face design tool, and the DNA file format. These technologies form the core of Epic Games' MetaHuman framework, the industry-recognized data standard for digital humans used by more than one million creators. In 2021 Epic released MetaHuman Creator in Early Access, followed by MetaHuman Animator in 2023; MetaHuman left Early Access and was fully integrated into Unreal Engine 5.6 in 2025 alongside MetaHuman for Maya.

3Lateral generates revenue through project-based B2B professional services contracts with enterprise clients; specific pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company engages customers through direct enterprise sales, leveraging its position within Epic Games' ecosystem and MetaHuman standards compliance as key differentiators. Operations span three locations — Novi Sad (Serbia, headquarters, with a new R&D campus under construction), Manchester (UK, European R&D), and Los Angeles (USA, North American client support) — with a workforce of 51–100 employees.

Name

3Lateral

Legal name

3Lateral

Website

https://3lateral.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

3Lateral is a digital character creation and animation studio serving AAA game studios and blockbuster productions. Owned by Epic Games since 2019, it develops SUNFLOWER, Rig Logic, and Gene Splicer technologies underpinning the MetaHuman framework and delivers end-to-end character services from scanning through runtime animation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Character Animation Services

NAICS

Postproduction Services and Other Motion Picture and Video Industries (51219), Other Motion Picture and Video Industries (512199)

SIC

Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819)

akta.pro primary industry

Asset Creation, Pipeline, DCC Integration & Content Management Tools (MPAFAFAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Real-Time Compositing, Keying & On-Set Playback (MPAHADAG), Cloud & Distributed Real-Time Production (Remote ICVFX, Multi-site) (MPAHADAJ)

Keywords

• Digital character creation
• Facial animation services
• AAA game development
• 3D scanning technology
• MetaHuman pipeline

Headquarters

HQ city

Novi Sad

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Character Services: Project-based professional services for AAA game studios and film/VFX productions requiring character creation and animation. Services span the entire pipeline from scanning to runtime characters, including 3D/4D scanning, modeling, texturing, rigging, shader development, mocap, and animation delivery.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

3Lateral delivers end-to-end digital character creation and animation services for AAA game development studios and blockbuster linear content productions. Their pipeline covers 3D/4D scanning, modeling, texturing, rigging, shader development, mocap, and animation delivery, built on proprietary technologies (SUNFLOWER, Rig Logic, Gene Splicer) and MetaHuman asset standards. Operating as part of Epic Games since 2019, the company provides project-based professional services that produce game-ready, runtime digital characters.

Product overview

3Lateral is a digital character studio providing end-to-end character creation and animation services for AAA game development and blockbuster linear content productions. The company operates as part of Epic Games and contributes to the MetaHuman framework. Their core product portfolio includes MetaHuman Creator (cloud-based character creation), MetaHuman Animator (facial animation and performance capture), and proprietary technologies including SUNFLOWER (scanning framework), Rig Logic (real-time facial solver), and DNA file format (character data standard). Services span the entire pipeline from 3D/4D scanning through modeling, texturing, rigging, to final animation delivery, all built on MetaHuman standards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Character Creation Services

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 25 AAA video games delivered successfully
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Cubic MotioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Cubic Motion, a world-leading animation specialist focused on performance-driven facial animation, joined Epic Games in 2020 and merged with 3Lateral. The combined team established a digital character powerhouse with complementary expertise spanning high-fidelity digital character creation and animation.
• Serbia CreatesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational platform Serbia Creates supported the Shaman project - a 10,000-year-old prehistoric man reconstruction exhibited at Dubai Expo 2020 and Serbian museums.
• The MillminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative studio responsible for creative oversight, building real-time scenes using Unreal Engine, look development to match Apex Legends cinematic trailers style, audio implementation and gamification for live events.
• AXSminorOthersStage venue partner equipped with fibre optic lines to the Microsoft Theatre for live character performances.
• Goodbye Kansas / Deep Forest FilmsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFilm production studio collaborated on Troll project - a cinematic tech demo showcasing Unreal Engine 4.22 ray tracing with digital characters.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Framestore: Global VFX and creative studio with deep character, creature and animation capabilities for film and episodic content. Comparable to 3Lateral in serving high-fidelity character needs of premium productions.
• Moving Picture Company (MPC): Premium VFX studio (a Technicolor company) delivering character creation and animation for blockbuster film and game-adjacent content. Direct overlap with 3Lateral's film/linear-content work, and a known 3Lateral customer.
• Industrial Light & Magic (ILM): Lucasfilm's VFX division and one of the leading digital character and creature houses globally, serving film and adjacent entertainment productions with high-fidelity character creation and animation services.
• Weta FX: Premium film and game VFX/digital character studio producing high-end digital humans for blockbuster productions. Most directly comparable to 3Lateral in terms of photorealistic character work for AAA-tier projects.
• Digital Domain: Hollywood VFX and digital human pioneer known for award-winning facial performance and digital doubles. Directly comparable to 3Lateral on photorealistic digital human creation for film, broadcast and games.

Emerging players

• D-ID: AI digital human platform for video and conversational avatars, intersecting with 3Lateral's facial animation capabilities but targeting enterprise/marketing use cases rather than AAA game pipelines.
• Soul Machines: Digital human platform combining CGI and AI for interactive avatars, with overlap to 3Lateral's facial animation tech and DNA-format character approach, though focused more on conversational AI experiences.
• Inworld AI: Generative AI character platform for games and interactive experiences. Comparable as an emerging alternative route to character creation, particularly around AI-driven NPCs that may eventually overlap with 3Lateral's parametric face design.
• Pinscreen: AI-driven digital human and avatar creation startup whose photo-to-3D avatar tech competes with parts of 3Lateral's pipeline (Gene Splicer, DNA format) for non-AAA applications.

Broad incumbents

• Unity Technologies: Major game engine and real-time 3D platform. Competes with Unreal Engine for AAA pipelines, and Unity's character/animation tooling roadmap is a structural alternative to 3Lateral's MetaHuman-centric stack.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/3Lateral
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3lateral
• Instagraminstagram.com/3lateral/?hl=en
• Xx.com/3lateral

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 3Lateral