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Unity Technologies, the creator of one of the industry’s biggest development platforms, has acquired live game management platform, ChilliConnect.
ChilliConnect “makes it easier for developers to configure, run and analyze Live Ops in a game”. In a press release, Unity says “ChilliConnect’s services, and the offerings from Unity’s other recent acquisition deltaDNA, round out Unity’s full LiveOps solution for building and operating connected games. With these acquisitions, developers can now access cost-effective, customizable live game solutions, regardless of individual needs”.
“Creating games on Unity is a great first step, but developer teams of all sizes are then faced with the challenge of managing and maintaining those games, which can be very complicated and costly,” said Luc Barthelet, vice president and general manager, Cloud Services, Unity Technologies. “ChilliConnect is the connecting piece for Unity developers, providing the essential LiveOps and backend services needed to successfully operate a connected game. Having ChilliConnect onboard closes the loop for developers to create, operate and monetize their game with Unity and we’re very excited to have them as part of the team.”
“Much like Unity, we believe in democratizing game development and management regardless of studio size, engine technology or commercial aspirations. We want developers to have a choice,” added Paul Farley, CEO of ChilliConnect. “By joining Unity, we are enhancing that choice for so many more developers worldwide. Our services will remain engine agnostic, but we’re excited to provide Unity developers with an easier path to successful connected game operation.”
ChilliConnect is Unity’s fifth acquisition in the last 12 months. It’s most recent acquisition, deltaDNA – which is used by companies such as Sega, Bethesda, Take-Two Interactive, Viacom, Bandai Namco, and 505 Game – will continue to operate as a separate entity, “providing its engine agnostic player lifetime management tools to developers worldwide”.
The company recently confirmed it had secured additional investment. After a tender offer for common shareholders of up to $525 million, Unity Technologies’ worth doubled to an estimated $6 billion. As the tender offer is open to all common shareholders – the majority of which are current and former employers of the firm – this “marks a significant milestone” and the “opportunity for some liquidity to [Unity’s] dedicated employees who have worked so hard to make Unity the company that it is today”.
Unity sought $125 million in additional Series E funding back in May 2019, and closed with $150m, boosting the company’s value up to an estimated $5.96 billion at the time.
The latest iteration of the game engine software, Unity 2019.2, is now available.
