- Saudi Arabia’s PIF and Silver Lake Partners have held talks with Unity for a potential acquisition.
- It has been valued at $25 billion, as it works with an investment bank to evaluate its next move.
- Saudi Arabia and PIF were directly involved in the EA buyout, described as one of the largest gaming acquisitions.
The gaming industry has seen huge acquisitions in recent years, including EA’s buyout by Saudi Arabia’s PIF. The firm has since gone private, closed BioWare amid layoffs, and revised its strategy to only focus on certain IPs as developer morale drops to an all-time low.
A new report now reveals that Saudi Arabia’s public investment wealth fund and private investor Silver Lake Partners are teaming up again to acquire game engine company Unity. A consortium of investors has been in talks in recent weeks to buy Unity, valuing it at $25 billion.
Why it matters: If the buyout goes through, the company behind one of the largest and most popular game engines would lose independence as it goes private. The move could reshape the gaming landscape as Saudi Arabia deepens its foothold in the industry.
Reuters reports that Silver Lake and PIF approached Unity regarding a potential acquisition. The former already holds roughly 8% of Unity, as it invested up to $400 million in the game engine company back in 2017.
Since then, Silver Lake has maintained a huge ownership stake, and it remains one of Unity’s largest shareholders. The company’s CEO, Egon Durban, also sits on Unity’s board, but he’s expected to withdraw himself from the ongoing acquisition talks because of the dual role.
Unity has either hired or is working with an investment bank to evaluate its strategy moving forward, so it’s still unclear whether an acquisition will actually go through in the end.
Unity is behind some of the most popular entries in the gaming ecosystem, including Cuphead, Escape from Tarkov, Rust, Subnautica, and Cities: Skylines. So, the company going private could have drastic consequences for the entire industry.
Regardless, none of the involved parties in the deal have shared any official statements so far.
Do you think the Unity game engine being acquired by Saudi Arabia’s PIF and Silver Lake will benefit the gaming industry or hurt it instead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devotedly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.