Unity to pay $1.6 billion for The Lord of the Rings VFX maker Weta Digital

Unity, which makes the popular Unity game development engine, announced an intent to acquire the tools, pipeline, technology, and some engineering staff from Weta Digital, which is perhaps best known for its work on the The Lord of the Rings movies.

The deal is a major bid by Unity to bring powerful new tools to visual effects teams, game developers, and other industries that rely on computer graphics.

Unity intends to purchase Weta Digital for $1.625 billion in cash and stock, and the deal is expected to close during Unity’s fourth quarter , according to a press release.

The VFX teams at Weta Digital aren’t included in the deal; instead, they will be part of a standalone entity called WetaFX that will still be majority owned by Jackson.

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