In a new report, it has been claimed that the Saudi Arabian PIF and Silver Lake have approached Unity to discuss a full-scale acquisition of the tech titan. The firm, which offers developers an industry-leading game engine, amongst other things, has a valuation of around $25 billion, and it was further reported that the company has been ‘evaluating its options’.
It’s only a preliminary thing right now, but sources close to Reuters reported that Silver Lake, which already has a minority stake in Unity, would pair with the exorbitant wealth fund at the heart of the Saudi PIF to sweep Unity not too long after securing ownership of Electronic Arts in a recent $55 billion deal.
Will Unity Sell?
Unity has had a tricky few years, having been forced to make several rounds of layoffs, the most recent of which impacted the legendary Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb, who was made redundant just 18 months after joining the company.
The team has also drawn backlash online for heavily supporting AI development and, a couple of years ago, the firm proposed a highly controversial ‘runtime’ fee that would have forced smaller developers to struggle under the weight of success.
In a new report from Reuters, it has been claimed that Unity could be acquired wholesale by Silver Lake Partners and the Saudi Arabian PIF, the same entities that recently acquired Electronic Arts alongside Affinity Partners.
That acquisition and subsequent action were partly responsible for the recent wave of redundancies that also led to BioWare being shut down and the next Mass Effect game being canceled.
Even just mentioning the potential acquisition caused Unity’s share value to rise almost 15%. The company is best known for producing a game engine of the same name, which continues to evolve after more than twenty years on the market. It serves as the backbone for some hugely popular games, including Genshin Impact, Escape from Tarkov, Pokémon GO, Rust, Call of Duty Mobile, and Hearthstone.
Are you surprised to find out that Silver Lake and the Saudi PIF want to buy Unity? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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