Unity has announced plans to acquire Peter Jackson’s VFX studio, Weta Digital, for over $1.62 billion in cash and stock.
That move is intended to bolster Unity’s toolset and talent for 3D content creation as it jumps on the metaverse bandwagon. The acquisition includes a team of 275 engineers; a range of tools from renderers to physics simulators; a data platform; and a large library of WetaFX assets.
“By combining the power of Unity and Weta Digital, the tools and technology that built characters and scenes from the world’s most iconic films such as Avatar, Lord of the Rings, and Wonder Woman, will enable an entirely new generation of creators to build, transform, and distribute stunning RT3D content,” Unity President and CEO John Riccitello said in a statement.
Unity is a major player in real-time 3D content creation with its Unity Engine competing side by side with Epic Games’ Unreal engine. Its tools are used for video game creation, digital artwork, architecture, design, filmmaking, and more. The addition of Weta Digital will further expand the tools it makes available for creators.
“Our goal is to put these world-class, exclusive VFX tools into the hands of millions of creators and artists around the world, and once connected with the Unity platform, enable the next generation of RT3D (real-time 3D) creativity. Whatever the metaverse is or will be, we believe it will be built by content creators, just like you,” Unity Create Solutions SVP and General Manager Marc Whitten explained in a blog post.
Unity plans to make these tools available to creators in a “cloud-based Software as a Service subscription model.” As many companies push forward with plans for the metaverse, tools that facilitate that could be big business.
