Unity Buys Peter Jackson's Weta Digital Special Effects Studio

Unity has a big purchase. The company announced a deal with the studio Weta Digital, among the founders of which is director Peter Jackson (Peter Jackson). This acquisition will cost Unity $1.62 billion in cash and stock.

“Avatar”. Source: Weta Digital
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.

As part of the agreement, Unity will get tools, technologies and a team of Weta Digital engineers. For example, Manuka and Gazebo renderers, the Scenic Designer tool for creating an environment and Lumberjack for vegetation modeling will pass into her hands.

At the same time, the studio’s artist team will continue to work independently under the name WetaFX. The controlling stake in WetaFX will continue to belong to Jackson, and Prem Akkaraju will continue to lead this direction. Nevertheless, WetaFX also intends to cooperate with Unity, but already as a client.

The purchase of Weta Digital will allow Unity to expand the capabilities of its engine.

“Our goal is to transfer high—quality exclusive Weta Digital tools to millions of developers and artists. By integrating these technologies into the Unity platform, we will create the opportunity for the next generation of 3D modeling technologies in real time,” commented Marc Whitten, vice president of Unity, on the purchase.

Weta Digital was founded in 1993 in New Zealand. Since then, she has worked on special effects for such films as “The Lord of the Rings”, “Avatar”, “King Kong”, “The Avengers” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”.