Sketchfab launches a store to become a stock photo site for 3D models

Sketchfab just launched a store so that you can buy and sell 3D models and reuse them in commercial projects. This is a major new feature for Sketchfab, which has become one of the biggest repositories of 3D models on the web. It feels like Sketchfab is becoming a sort of stock photography site, except that it’s all about 3D models.

While Sketchfab already has 2 million 3D models on its website, most of them aren’t available to download or are available under a Creative Common license. So if you’re building a video game, a virtual reality experience or anything that involves 3D objects, Sketchfab isn’t as useful as it could be.

That’s why Sketchfab is launching a separate store. Everything you can find in there is available to buy and download. Most prices range from ten dollars to a hundred dollars, with a few ultra premium models that cost hundreds of dollars.

Compared to other 3D asset stores out there, Sketchfab lets you view 3D models right there in your browser. It’s a much better experience than looking at screenshots. You can use the model inspector to see the wireframe, the model with and without post-processing and more.

Sketchfab uses the glTF file format, which is slowly becoming a standard format for 3D models and scenes. Files should work in Unity or Unreal Engine for instance.

It’s going to be interesting to see if creators of the 2 million models on Sketchfab are going to leverage this new store to sell their work. The Sketchfab viewer seems like the perfect storefront for this kind of items.