Metaverse technology company Improbable has sold off its defence division, Improbable Defence, to NOIA Capital.
The company, who most recently cropped up in our reporting during a short spat with game development platform Unity over the use of their third-party tech on the platform, aims to pivot back to media and metaverse technologies. The announcement was made via Improbable’s company blog, with closure of the deal pending the UK government customary approvals processes, in three to six months. The exact details of the transaction were not disclosed.
COO of Improbable, Peter Lipka commented, “We are very pleased to spin out our defence business, which we initiated in 2018 and grew to the point of Skyral being a proven capability. We are very confident that with the support of NOIA, the business is on a great path moving forward to being one of the first new prime contractors in decades in the UK market. Improbable continues to transform to deepen its focus on the metaverse.”
A further move to metaverse
The decision to sell off their defence division is indicative of Improbable’s further devotion to streamlining their operations in pursuit of metaverse applications. Although Improbable has mainly put its efforts towards a broad variety of media in the past, the metaverse has squarely captured their attention. This latest deal comes after the company sold off its stake in developer Inflexion to the Chinese gaming giant Tencent.
As noted on our sister site, PCGamesInsider, the decision to sell off their defence division is a major one as it has been a huge money spinner for the company in the past. However, much as the company divested itself from gaming, in parting ways with its defence arm Improbable has freed itself from a drain on resources and time that it feels can be better employed elsewhere.
