While company acquisitions aren’t anything new, the video game industry has seen its fair share of high-level buyouts in recent times. Of course, the most iconic is Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard from earlier this year, which is the most expensive the industry has seen yet in addition to being one of the most expensive company buy-outs period. Now, another deal might be brewing: American company AppLovin has its eyes set on buying the well-known Unity and is offering a hefty $17.5 billion to make it happen.
This news report comes from Reuters, saying that AppLovin Corp. is seeking to “tap into growing demand for three-dimensional gaming.”
Unity is best known for its Unity Game Engine, which is a utility set that’s used by thousands of developers from studios both large and small to create a wide variety of titles.
News of this potential acquisition comes just a day after Microsoft and Unity announced a new partnership to outfit Unity’s development tools with Microsoft Azure cloud technology in order to give developers more flexibility for their workflows.
AppLovin is also in the development business, with its focus being on giving up-and-coming studios the tools and strategies they need to expand the reach of their apps.
According to the report, the company is offering Unity $58.85 per share, with the total value being in the ballpark of $20 billion.
Should the deal go through, Unity would not be entirely swallowed up. It will still own a little over half (55%) of the company’s outstanding shares. In terms of voting rights, Unity would retain 49%, according to Reuters.
Unity has yet to formally respond to this offer. But, that news should come within the next few days or weeks, at the very latest.
With the increasing number of games being developed, it’s no wonder why AppLovin has taken an interest in Unity. After all, going back to the aforementioned new partnership between Unity and Microsoft, along with this new offer from AppLovin, all of this shows just how healthy business currently is for Unity.
The company is clearly riding a very big wave right now as it seeks to further expand its reach in the industry. The more backing it has to continue providing support to developers and new tools, this should inevitably lead to the production of even more projects.
The scene of game development has shifted dramatically from how it once was. Tools such as the Unity Game Engine have only in recent years become so readily available. Combine that with the ease of digital distribution across storefronts like Steam, Epic Games Store, Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live, and you have a recipe for a ripe market for a company like Unity.
[Source: Reuters]
