Special effects similar to those used by director Peter Jackson will soon be available to many video game creators. The New Zealand studio Weta Digital, which has been creating special effects for The Lord of the Rings, Avatar and many other famous directors, including the TV series Game of Thrones since 1993, is bought by Unity Software. Its CEO John Richitello has a long history of filmmaking and just couldn’t pass up the chance (“when I was a kid, I wanted to be able to do what Peter Jackson does”). Now Richitello is going to make the Weta Digital library and its tools available to all of his clients. Unity is a technology company that makes video game creation easier by using its solutions instead of building their own from scratch. And the Unity engine allows you to release a game on almost any platform – from a smartphone to a game console.
True, as a result of the deal for $ 1.63 billion, Unity did not get all the assets of the studio, among the shareholders of which is Peter Jackson himself. 275 programmers and most of the intellectual property will go to Unity, but the special effects artists are leaving for a new company, Weta FX, which Jackson will retain control of, and will be led by the current CEO of Weta Digital, Prem Akkaraju. Richitello hopes Weta FX will become his company’s largest media and entertainment client.
This takeover is the largest in Unity history. The company announced it simultaneously with the disclosure of the results of the III quarter. It was the 12th in a row with revenues growing at least 30% year-on-year. In July – September, it amounted to $ 286.3 million, and for the whole year Unity predicts sales of $ 1.1 billion. Although, as noted by the Internet publication Money Inc., the company has never shown a net profit for the year, spending money on fast growth.
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