Unity Software is in acquisition talks with U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, according to Reuters. The consortium is discussing a full buyout that values Unity at $25 billion, above its current public market price of $21.5 billion.
Silver Lake already owns eight percent of Unity. The same two firms, alongside Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, previously led the buyout of EA and invested in Niantic. Details about other partners in the Unity deal remain unknown.
No firm agreement has been reached. Discussions are ongoing.
Unity is the second-most popular game engine after Unreal Engine. The technology extends beyond gaming into engineering and filmmaking. A successful buyout would rank among the largest in gaming industry history, behind only Microsoft's Activision purchase and EA's recent sale.
The deal would expand Saudi Arabia's gaming investments. The PIF already owns EA, mobile developer Scopely, and stakes in Nintendo, Capcom, and Take-Two Interactive. The government also owns the fighting game tournament Evo and operates the eSports World Cup.
Developers rely heavily on Unity for game development. Some expressed uncertainty about the engine's future if acquired, particularly as they weigh Unreal Engine's AI-focused direction under Epic Games.