11 Nov - San Francisco-based video game software development company Unity recently announced that it is acquiring Weta Digital, the legendary visual effects company co-founded by filmmaker Peter Jackson. The company announced the news on 10 November on its official website, saying that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Weta Digital, specifically its artist tools, core pipeline, intellectual property, and award-winning engineering talent.
"The Academy Award-winning VFX service teams of Weta Digital will continue as a standalone entity known as WetaFX and will become Unity's largest customer in the Media and Entertainment space. By combining the industry leading VFX tools and technical talent from the incredible team at Weta, plus the deep development and real-time knowledge within Unity, we aim to deliver tools to unlock the full potential of the metaverse," the statement added.
At the same time, it was revealed that Jackson will continue to own the majority of WetaFX, with the two companies to work together in future projects. The said acquisition is said to cost USD1.6 billion.
Weta is known for creating some of the most well-known characters, from Avatar's Neyriti, Lord of the Rings' Gollum, as well as Planet of the Apes' Caesar.