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That was fast.

Bryant Francis, Senior Editor

December 1, 2021

1 Min Read
Screenshots of a digitally animated ape, Alita, and Marvel villain Thanos are placed side-by-side

Less than a month after the initial announcement, Unity has concluded its acquisition of Weta Digital.

The $1.63 billion deal puts one of Hollywood's biggest visual effects engineering workforce under Unity's purview. In a statement shared with Game Developer, Unity said that the acquisition is "designed to empower the growing number of game developers, artists, and potentially millions of consumer creators with highly sophisticated content creation tools" like those used for Hollywood projects such as The Suicide Squad, Game of Thrones, and more. 

Weta's visual effects team will continue to operate as a solo company called WetaFX. It will be owned by film director Peter Jackson and helmed by CEO Prem Akkaraju. Jackson originally founded the company in 1993.

Unity has promised to keep the Weta engineering team based in Wellington, New Zealand.

About the Author(s)

Bryant Francis

Senior Editor, GameDeveloper.com

Bryant Francis is a writer, journalist, and narrative designer based in Boston, MA. He currently writes for Game Developer, a leading B2B publication for the video game industry. His credits include Proxy Studios' upcoming 4X strategy game Zephon and Amplitude Studio's 2017 game Endless Space 2.

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