Silver Lake and Saudi PIF in Talks to Buy Unity in $25 Billion Deal
A deal would extend the consortium's Saudi-backed reach from Electronic Arts into the engine that many studios rely on.
Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund are reportedly in talks to take over Unity Software in a deal valuing the game engine maker at roughly $25 billion, according to Reuters. Silver Lake already holds about 8% of Unity, and no agreement has been reached, with terms still open to change. The approach follows the consortium's roughly $55 billion takeover of Electronic Arts, which closed earlier this year, and would extend Saudi investment across the games sector. Unity's engine is widely used by mobile, PC and console developers, so a change of ownership could matter to studios that depend on it. Unity recently posted its first quarterly GAAP profit since its 2020 listing, driven by growth in its Vector advertising platform.
Why it matters
If the talks succeed, ownership of one of the most widely used game engines would sit with the same investors that now control Electronic Arts, a shift that matters to the mobile, PC and console studios that build on Unity. No agreement has been reached and the terms could still change, so the outcome is not settled. The reported approach also suggests Saudi investment is spreading across the games sector rather than staying confined to a single publisher. Unity's first GAAP quarterly profit since its 2020 listing, driven by its Vector advertising platform, gives the company a stronger position to negotiate from.
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