Private equity group Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) have reportedly held early discussions to acquire game engine maker Unity Software in an unconfirmed deal that could value the business at roughly $25 billion. The move follows the consortium’s $55 billion purchase of Electronic Arts in August 2026, which led to BioWare’s closure just two months later.
According to Reuters reporting via Game Developer, sources say the consortium approached Unity’s leadership team in recent weeks to explore taking the San Francisco company private. Unity has reportedly retained an investment bank to review its strategic options, but no binding offer or formal contract exists, and talks remain unconfirmed.
| Entity / Metric | Detail |
| Target | Unity Software Inc. (San Francisco, California) |
| Rumoured Valuation | Circa $25 billion |
| Prospective Suitors | Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) |
| Deal Status | Unconfirmed early approach; no formal deal agreed |
| Pre-Existing Stake | Silver Lake currently owns roughly 8% of Unity |
| Previous Consortium Buyout | $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts |
| Studio Precedent | BioWare shuttered October 2026; next Mass Effect cancelled |
The Shadow of BioWare
For creators and tabletop gamers who follow digital roleplaying games, the rumours carry weight because of the buyers’ recent actions at Electronic Arts. After completing the EA buyout, the new owners moved quickly to strip costs and shift priorities toward live-service products. That shift led directly to BioWare’s liquidation on 21 October 2026 after 30 years of development, eliminating 400 positions across EA and shelving active work on the next Mass Effect.
Silver Lake has held an 8% equity share in Unity since 2017. Teaming up with Saudi Arabia’s PIF, which controls 93.4% of the privatised EA entity, would hand the rules of digital gaming’s most widely adopted game software to buyers known for rapid restructuring.
Ad Revenue versus game rules
The takeover rumours arrived alongside Unity’s third-quarter earnings update, where company leadership celebrated substantial revenue gains in advertising rather than its primary game software. While fourth-quarter revenue from the game development suite is expected to grow just 4% to 6%, advertising and monetisation income is forecast to leap between 105% and 107%.
Matt Bromberg, Chief Executive Officer at Unity Software, said in a statement:
We are seeing the compounding impact of our flywheel strategy: more creators make more games on our platform, and more games fuel the need for more discovery through advertising.”
Unity has spent the past year attempting to regain goodwill after its disastrous 2023 runtime fee plan, which sparked an open rebellion across the indie community and prompted former chief executive John Riccitiello to step down. While Unity later scrapped the worst parts of that pricing policy, tabletop developers building digital aids, character managers, and virtual tabletops remain wary of sudden licensing shifts. If the same group that axed BioWare takes control of the engine, creators may decide it is time to pack up their character sheets and permanently migrate their campaigns to Godot or Unreal Engine.
Photo by Fredrick Tendong on Unsplash.
