Weta Digital, the visual effects company co-founded by Lord of the Rings' Peter Jackson, has been acquired by Unity Technologies for a $1.625 billion price tag. Weta Digital has been behind unforgettable visual effects in numerous iconic films, from Marvel and DC films to Avatar. The company, which includes a team of engineers and artists, is responsible for bringing many of our most beloved movies and shows to life, and now it appears poised to dominate virtual and augmented reality spheres.
Unity’s pricey acquisition includes Weta Digital’s team of 275 engineers. Weta Digital’s team of artists will become their own company, called WetaFX, and the two branches intend to continue working closely together. Jackson will own the majority of WetaFX, while Unity will take over ownership of many of the company’s tools, which include Manuka, a tool used to enhance effects’ realism in final cuts; Barbershop, a hair and fur system; City Builder, which forms many of the giant cities made famous in movies like King Kong; and advanced facial capture technologies. Unity will also inherit Weta Digital’s library of assets, which includes a huge variety of textures and environments.
Unity’s acquisition seems to be designed to cement the company’s influence in the forthcoming metaverse, Facebook’s self-described “new phase of interconnected virtual experiences.” The metaverse’s augmented and virtual experiences will require a lot of 3D modeling and advanced effects — exactly the sort provided by Weta Digital.
“The unified tools and the incredible scientists and technologists of Weta Digital will accelerate our mission to give content creators easy to use and high performance tools to bring their visions to life,” wrote Unity in a blog post. “Whatever the metaverse is or will be, we believe it will be built by content creators, just like you.”
Unity plans on eventually offering Weta Digital’s advanced animation tools to anyone via a cloud-based platform. This would make the company’s tools available to millions of artists and creators around the world, paving the way for new forms of innovation and change in the ever-shifting multimedia landscape.
“Weta Digital’s tools created unlimited possibilities for us to bring to life the worlds and creatures that originally lived in our imaginations,” said Peter Jackson in a statement, adding, “Together, Unity and Weta Digital can create a pathway for any artist, from any industry, to be able to leverage these incredibly creative and powerful tools. Offering aspiring creatives access to Weta Digital’s technology will be nothing short of game changing and Unity is just the company to bring this vision to life.”