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Megascans Free: What Quixel's Free Library and New AI Training Terms on Fab Mean for Blender Artists Who Use and Sell 3D Assets (2026) | Blended BORIS | Digital Art IP

On 5 November 2026, Quixel announced that the full Megascans library is going free on Fab, Epic Games' asset marketplace. In the same announcement, Quixel said it has updated the terms for all Quixel assets so that people can now train AI models on Megascans and Megaplants. Fab listings are being switched to free between now and 12 November, and buyers who paid for Megascans on or after 1 January 2025 will get their money back as Epic Account Balance.
Megascans is one of the best-known libraries of photoscanned 3D assets: rocks, ground surfaces, plants, props and surface textures captured from the real world. Trade press puts the library at more than 20,000 assets. Many Blender artists already use these scans for environments, product shots and game scenes, and many others sell their own scans, textures and environment kits on the same marketplaces.
So this is not only a nice freebie. A huge, high-quality library becoming free changes the market for anyone who sells similar assets. And the AI clause sends a signal: one of the largest 3D asset owners has decided that its own scans may be used to train AI models. This article explains what was announced, what the Fab licence lets you do in Blender, what the AI change does and does not cover, and what Blender artists should do now.
TL;DR: free Megascans and AI training for Blender artists

The full Megascans library is going free on Fab, with listings updated until 12 November 2026. Fab's Standard licence lets you use assets in any compatible tool, Blender included, and ship them inside your own projects, but not resell or give away the assets on their own. Quixel now also allows AI training on Megascans and Megaplants. That permission covers Quixel's scans, not your work. If you sell scans or environment kits, expect more price pressure, set the NoAI tag on your own Fab listings if you do not want them used for AI, and keep a record of which assets in each scene are yours.

What did Quixel announce?

The Quixel announcement is short and direct: "We're making the full Quixel Megascans library free on Fab." It lists three changes:
  • A free library. All Megascans become free on Fab. Quixel's post on X added that Fab listings will update between 5 and 12 November, so some assets may still show a price for a few days.
  • AI training rights. The terms for all Quixel assets now allow training AI models on Megascans and Megaplants. Epic says this lets models learn from real-world scans to generate varied, photorealistic environments.
  • Refunds. Anyone who bought Megascans or a Quixel Bundle on or after 1 January 2025 gets a refund to their Epic Account Balance. They keep their licence and also gain the new AI rights.
According to the FAQ on the same page, you must log in to your Epic Account and accept the latest terms to get the refund. Refunds should appear by the end of 2026, and the balance can be spent across Epic products, not only on Fab. Studio licences continue under the terms of each customer's contract.
It is not the first time Megascans has been free. When Fab launched in October 2024, Epic made Megascans free to everyone until the end of 2024, and from 2025 the scans were sold on Fab. Several outlets describe the new change as lasting. Quixel's own announcement does not use the word "permanent", so it is safer to treat the library as free from now on, with no end date announced.

Can you use free Megascans in Blender?

Yes, for assets you get from Fab under the Standard licence. Fab's licence summary says you can use assets with any compatible tool and that usage is not limited to Unreal Engine. Epic also says Fab assets can be sent from the Epic Games Launcher to tools such as Blender in standard file formats. Once a scan is in your scene, it behaves like any other imported asset: you can light it, scatter it, combine it with your own models and render it. Our guides to photogrammetry cleanup and integration in Blender and scatter add-ons for vegetation cover the practical side.
The licence also lets you commercially distribute your own projects with Fab assets built into them. A rendered still, an animation, a game or an archviz walkthrough that uses Megascans can be sold. What you may not do is resell or redistribute the assets themselves on a standalone basis, or allow others to do so. The Fab licence documentation also explains the two pricing tiers. The Personal tier is for buyers with no more than USD 100,000 in gross revenue over the last 12 months, and Fab says both tiers grant the same scope of rights. For free assets, the tier makes no price difference.
One caution for long-time users. Megascans downloaded years ago through Quixel Bridge came under older plans, and the old free plan was tied to Unreal Engine. If you still have those files in a Blender library, check which licence they came with. The simplest fix is to claim the asset again on Fab, so your Fab library shows the current licence. Our article on Blender 5.3 online asset libraries explains why tracking the source of every asset in a library matters more as libraries grow.

What does the AI training change actually cover?

The AI clause is the bigger news for artists, and it is easy to misread. Quixel owns the Megascans library, so it can decide how its own scans may be used. It has now decided that licensees may train AI models on Megascans and Megaplants. The stated goal is AI that generates photorealistic environments from real-world scan data.
Three points are worth keeping clear:
  • It covers Quixel's assets only. The permission does not extend to models, textures or scenes made by other Fab sellers, and it does not touch your own Blender work.
  • The details are not public yet. At the time of the announcement, GameFromScratch found no updated licence or Fab EULA text with the new AI wording, and El Mediático noted that the announcement does not set out limits such as commercial use of trained models. Read the updated terms before you plan anything around them.
  • Fab's NoAI tag still exists. Fab's documentation says the NoAI meta tag means an asset "must not be used for generative AI data collection". Sellers can set it only on assets offered under the Standard licence, not under CC BY.
This is a different choice from the one other platforms made for their users. Sketchfab's terms promise not to use or license uploads for generative AI datasets, and ArtStation turned on NoAI by default in September. Nexus Mods set AI training to "Ask Me" for every mod this week. Quixel went the other way, but with assets it owns outright. That is the point: the owner of the work decides. Our report on the Hi3D open-source 3D generator shows why that matters: its developers said it was trained on about two million curated 3D assets without naming the sources.
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What changes for Blender artists who sell scans and environment kits?

If you sell photoscanned rocks, ground materials or plant packs, you now compete with a free, well-known library. Some buyers who paid for generic scans will stop. Artists who sell on the main 3D marketplaces should look at where their packs overlap with Megascans and where they do not.
There are clear gaps a free library does not fill. Stylised and hand-sculpted assets, hero props, region-specific scans, complete Blender-ready scenes with geometry nodes setups, and assets with clean topology for games all remain in demand. Our guides to Blender asset packs and file organisation for multi-asset product packs explain how buyers judge a pack beyond the raw scan.
There is also a new risk. Under the Fab licence you may not redistribute Megascans as standalone assets. If you build an environment kit and include Megascans textures or meshes, you cannot sell or give away those files inside your pack, even though they are now free. Swap them for your own work or for assets whose licence allows redistribution, such as CC0 material described in our guide to assets that are free from copyright. Also check each marketplace's copyright policy, since most ask you to confirm that you own or may distribute everything in a listing.
QuestionWhat the announcement and Fab licence sayWhat to do in Blender
Is Megascans free now?Yes, the full library on Fab; listings update until 12 November 2026Claim the assets you need on Fab
Can I use it in Blender?Standard licence: any compatible tool, not only Unreal EngineImport and render as usual
Can I sell renders and games?Projects with Fab assets built in may be distributed commerciallyKeep the Fab licence record per project
Can I put scans in my asset pack?No standalone resale or redistribution of the assetsReplace them with your own or CC0 assets
May AI be trained on Megascans?Yes, on Megascans and Megaplants, under the updated termsRead the final licence text when it appears
Does that cover my work?No, the permission is for Quixel assetsSet NoAI on your own Fab listings if you want
I paid in 2025 or 2026. Refund?Purchases on or after 1 January 2025, to Epic Account Balance by end of 2026Log in and accept the latest terms

How do you keep your own work separate from free scans?

When thousands of artists use the same free scans, scenes start to look alike, and questions about who made what become more common. A buyer, a client or a marketplace moderator may ask which parts of a scene are yours. If a render that mixes your models with Megascans is copied, your claim covers what you created: your models, your textures, your composition and lighting. The scans belong to Quixel.
The answer is a simple asset record for every project: which assets came from Fab, which from other libraries, which you made yourself, and when. Blender's Asset Browser helps you keep your own assets apart from downloaded ones. Dated .blend versions show how your part of a scene developed. The same record helps if your work is flagged as AI-made or copied, as our reports on the Steam AI disclosure debate and ownership of scanned work in Blender explain.

What should Blender artists do now?

  1. Claim what you need on Fab. Add the scans you actually use to your Fab library while listings switch to free, and check again after 12 November if an asset still shows a price.
  2. Check old Bridge downloads. Find Megascans in your Blender libraries that came from older Quixel plans, and claim them again on Fab if you use them outside Unreal Engine.
  3. Claim your refund. If you paid for Megascans or a Quixel Bundle on or after 1 January 2025, log in to your Epic Account and accept the latest terms.
  4. Audit your asset packs. Remove any Megascans meshes or textures from packs you sell or share, and replace them with your own work or with assets you may redistribute.
  5. Rethink overlapping products. If you sell generic scans, move toward stylised, hero, game-ready or region-specific assets that a free library does not cover.
  6. Decide your own AI stance. If you do not want your Fab listings used for AI, offer them under the Standard licence with the NoAI tag, and use the opt-outs in our guide to opting out of AI training datasets.
  7. Keep an asset record per project. Note which assets came from Fab, which from other libraries and which you made, with dates.
  8. Timestamp your own work. Dated proof of your models and scenes helps when a render is copied, questioned or reposted without credit.
For wider context on AI training and the law, read the shared AI training opt-out in robots.txt and the Advocate General's opinion in the Google Gemini case. For licence basics, see Creative Commons versus copyright for Blender assets and free texture resources for Blender.
The sister blog covers how to protect your art from AI training, copyright versus Creative Commons and how to create immutable proof of your art.

Where does this fit in the bigger picture?

Who may use a file, and for what, was the thread running through our sister sites this week:
In each case, the files and systems that were shared, exposed or licensed were what mattered most. A Blender artist who knows which assets are theirs, which are licensed and on what terms is in the same strong position.

Conclusion

Free Megascans are good news for Blender artists who build scenes: thousands of high-quality scans, usable in Blender under Fab's Standard licence, at no cost. For artists who sell scans and environment kits, the same news means more competition and a clear rule to follow: never redistribute Megascans inside your own packs. The AI training permission is Quixel's decision about Quixel's assets. It does not reach your own models, and Fab still offers the NoAI tag for sellers who want to keep their work out of AI datasets. Use the free library, keep your own work clearly separate and keep dated records of what you made.
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FAQ: free Megascans and AI training for Blender artists

Is Quixel Megascans free now?

Yes. On 5 November 2026 Quixel announced that the full Megascans library is going free on Fab. Listings are being updated until 12 November 2026.

Is the free Megascans offer permanent?

Quixel has not announced an end date. Several outlets describe the change as lasting, but the Quixel announcement itself does not use the word permanent.

Can I use Megascans in Blender?

Yes. Fab's Standard licence lets you use assets with any compatible tool, not only Unreal Engine, and Epic says Fab assets can be sent to Blender in standard file formats.

Can I sell renders or games that use Megascans?

Yes. The Fab licence allows you to commercially distribute projects with Fab assets built into them. You may not resell or redistribute the assets themselves on a standalone basis.

Can I include Megascans in an asset pack I sell?

No. Standalone redistribution of the assets is not allowed, even though they are free. Replace them with your own work or with assets whose licence allows redistribution.

Does the AI training permission apply to my models?

No. The updated terms cover Quixel assets, Megascans and Megaplants. Your own work is not affected, and on Fab you can set the NoAI tag on listings offered under the Standard licence.

Who gets a refund?

Anyone who bought Megascans or a Quixel Bundle on or after 1 January 2025. The refund goes to the Epic Account Balance by the end of 2026, after you log in and accept the latest terms.

How can BlendedBoris help?

BlendedBoris records a blockchain timestamp of your Blender work from inside Blender, giving you dated proof of the models and scenes you made yourself.
2026-11-07 16:39 News