Unity Software has reportedly held acquisition talks with a consortium including Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The company makes the game engine used across PC, consoles, and mobile devices. Games built with Unity include Big Walk, Endless Legend 2, and Agent 64: Spies Never Die.
Silver Lake already has a Unity stake
Silver Lake owns roughly 8% of Unity after investing up to $400 million in the company in 2017. The potential buyer is therefore already one of the engine maker's major shareholders.
Silver Lake's Egon Durban also sits on Unity's board. That dual role would typically lead him to recuse himself from board deliberations on a sale.
Silver Lake and PIF were also members of the consortium behind Electronic Arts' $55 billion take-private deal, which closed in August. Affinity Partners was another member of that buyer group.
Unity's earnings provide the backdrop
The acquisition report followed Unity's latest earnings. Third-quarter revenue rose 32% to $622.1 million, while adjusted earnings reached $0.44 per share. The results exceeded estimates.
Unity also posted its first quarterly profit under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) since going public in September 2020. Strong growth in its AI-powered Vector advertising platform contributed to that result, alongside a solid performance from its game-development business.
The company began in Denmark in 2004 and has expanded beyond game development into advertising technology. Its software also serves automotive design, filmmaking, architecture, and industrial simulation, so the reported discussions involve a business with customers outside gaming as well as studios.
The Runtime Fee remains relevant developer history
Unity's ownership talks follow a separate conflict over how studios paid to use its technology. In September 2023, the company announced a Runtime Fee that charged developers per game install.
Developer opposition to the policy preceded CEO John Riccitiello's departure within weeks. Current CEO Matthew Bromberg later described Unity as having been “practically at war with our customers.”
Unity scrapped the Runtime Fee completely in September 2024.
