Who Could Buy Unity? / News / June 7, 2025 / Business, Unity Earlier this week 80.lv ran the incredibly misleading (some could say click-baity) article Analyst Suggests Apple Might be Considering Buying Unity After Legal Defeat to Epic Games. Might is doing some heavy lifting there as there is no actual evidence that Apple or any other company are currently looking to purchase Unity Technologies. That said, it is an interesting topic as a pure thought exercise. So today we are going to discuss the companies that could be potential suitors for Unity. Unity The obvious place to start is with Unity Technologies, which is to say they can simply stay an independent organization. While they are not profitable, their financial situation has been trending in a positive direction of late and they have sufficient cash and resources to stay independent for the foreseeable future. Should things get bad at Unity, it is possible one of their largest investors (Silver Lake Group, Vanguard Group, Sequoia Capital, Black Rock, etc) could take the company private again. Put simply, Unity does not need to be purchased and things can be kept as they are. Apple The original premise of this article is that Apple should buy Unity. Reasons why Apple should buy Unity: Apple and Unity have a long history, with Unity having been originally a Mac exclusive application and it has always supported Apple platforms Unity is by far the most used application for creating games on the Apple App Store Unity Grow products (ads, user acquisitions, analytics, etc) could have good synergy with Apples products Apple could prevent a potential future rival, especially around 3rd party app stores Reasons why Apple won’t buy Unity: Apple has never made a purchase anywhere near the size of Unity. Their largest acquisition to date (Beats) would be 1/4 to 1/5 the size of acquiring Unity Apple has never really gotten involved in gaming beyond small initiatives in the past Apple mostly grows in-house over acquisition and more acquisitions are subsumed into other Apple products, Unity is not a good fit here Amazon Amazon have heaps of cash and aren’t afraid to use it such as acquiring MGM, Whole Foods, Twitch and many more companies over the years. They also have several gaming-oriented interests and have made an attempt (that failed badly) to become a major game developer in the past. Reasons why Amazon should buy Unity: Amazon tried to enter gaming in a big way once already with the licensing of CryEngine to create Lumberyard (now O3DE) and buying up or forming several game studios. Unity would provide a much larger and more established foothold should they wish to buy their way in Amazon web services could be a good compliment to Unity’s server side offerings, while Unity’s Grow division could be a good fit for Amazon platforms Integration with their gaming platforms (Twitch, Luna, etc) Reasons why Amazon won’t buy Unity: Their last attempt into game development was a massive failure and much of it was rumored to be a culture problem Tencent Tencent have invested HEAVILY into the world of gaming (Ubisoft, Epic Games, Riot Games, Supercell, Snap, Funcom, Activision Blizzard, From Software, etc) and aren’t afraid of throwing money around, so Unity could be a good fit in that portfolio. That said recent political climate changes would render this acquisition very unlikely. Reasons why Tencent should buy Unity: Tencent have a presence across the entire gaming industry and already have a minority stake in Epic Games (Unreal Engine). This would more or less give them a controlling influence over two of the biggest players in the space Access to or ownership of Unity’s recently created China Joint Venture Integration with Tencents other holdings like WeChat or Snap might provide some synergies Reasons why Tencent won’t buy Unity: Not a snowballs chance in hell that regulators allow this acquisition to happen, from antitrust issues of owning stakes in both Unity and Unreal Engine, to just more broad geopolitical issues in the modern world Microsoft Microsoft are heavily invested in two areas that overlap with Unity, gaming and software development tools. On paper they might appear to be the perfect suitor for Unity and they have the cash hoard to make such a purchase with ease. Reasons why Microsoft should buy Unity: Unlike Apple, Microsoft has long been a proponent of growth via acquisition with some of their pillar products coming in the form of acquisitions. They also do not shy away from huge dollar purchases such as Activision Blizzard (69B), LinkedIn (26B), Nuance (20B), Skype (8.5B), ZeniMax (7.5B), GitHub (7.5B), Nokia (7B), Mojang[Minecraft] (2.5B) Microsoft have a long history of leveraging their development tools to grow their platforms Microsoft gaming studios/relationships/holdings such as XBox, Game Pass/PC Gaming, DirectX, Havok, etc. could benefit from a tighter relationship with Unity Like Amazon, Microsoft server-side services (Azure) could be used to power Unity Grow services Reasons why Microsoft won’t buy Unity: Microsoft only just finished their acquisition of Activision and it was an arduous and nearly doomed process. Buying another company in the gaming space might be a step too far for regulators While Microsoft doesn’t mind spending huge money on acquisitions, they also don’t mind killing those companies off after (Nokia? Skype?), especially if there is a market downturn like we are experiencing now AppLovin If there is a company that is most likely to buy Unity, and that would synergize best with Unity products, it’s AppLovin. In broad strokes, AppLovin, IronSource and Unity (Grow) are all in the same business. On top of that many of AppLovin’s biggest customers and products are directly tied to the Unity ecosystem. In fact, Unity and AppLovin are such a good fit that AppLovin attempted to buy Unity for nearly $20B back in 2022, when Unity instead pursued it’s doomed merger with IronSource. So, why would it make sense for AppLovin to buy Unity now? Well, these two 5 year stock performance charts more or less tell the entire story: It becomes crystal clear from that fateful date in August of 2022 which company has performed better and right now AppLovin is absolutely flush with cash. If there is a company that makes sense to acquire Unity, it’s AppLovin. Of course now that Unity owns IronSource, there are certainly questions of regulatory approval if this would even be allowed. Once again, this entire exercise is simply a thought exercise, just for fun. There is no public available news that ANYONE are looking to acquire Unity, nor that Unity is looking to be acquired. You can learn more about my thoughts on the matter in the video below.

CWA negotiates new contract for ZeniMax including "substantial" wage increases and a credits policy for QA staff "This agreement shows what's possible when workers stand together and refuse the status quo." Image credit: Microsoft News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on May 31, 2025 The Communications Workers of America (CWA) says it has reached a "historic tentative contract agreement" with ZeniMax Media staff at Microsoft. In a statement, the union calls the deal a "first for the video game industry", and revealed it had been negotiating for a first contract for "nearly two years". "QA workers from across the country continue to lead the charge for industry-wide change," said Page Branson, Senior II QA Tester and ZeniMax Workers United-CWA bargaining committee member. "Going toe-to-toe with one of the largest corporations in the world isn’t a small feat. This is a monumental victory for all current video game workers and for those that come after." Xbox currently has more first-party games coming to PlayStation 5 this year than Sony.Watch on YouTube The new contract is said to set "new standards for the industry" and includes "substantial across-the-board wage increases as well as new minimum salaries for workers". It also includes protections against arbitrary dismissal, grievance procedures, and a crediting policy that "clearly acknowledges the QA workers' contributions to the video games they help create", as well as a previously announced agreement on how artificial intelligence is introduced and implemented in the workplace. "Workers in the video game industry are demonstrating once again that collective power works. This agreement shows what's possible when workers stand together and refuse to accept the status quo," added CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. "Whether it's having a say about the use of AI in the workplace, fighting for significant wage increases and fair crediting policies, or protecting workers from retaliation, our members have raised the bar. We're proud to support them every step of the way." BREAKING: We have reached a historic first tentative contract agreement with Microsoft! cwa-union.org/news/release...[image or embed]— CWA (@cwaunion.bsky.social) May 30, 2025 at 5:04 PM To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Members can expect contract explanation meetings over the next few weeks, and a ratification vote is expected by 20th June. As game development becomes increasingly insecure all over the world, more and more developers and performers are organising collective bargaining. Following news of the SAG-AFTRA strike last year, Equity stated it stood "in solidarity", but would not be authorising a strike. It did, however, recently call on the games industry to improve conditions for performers, and a protest took place outside BAFTA Games Awards as Equity members held placards reading "Union contracts in gaming now". Last month, the US union warned of "alarming loopholes" for "AI abuse" in the latest proposal to end industrial action, while earlier this month, almost 200 Overwatch developers working at Activision Blizzard joined the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union after the "overwhelming majority" of workers signed up.

In Brief Posted: 7:03 AM PDT · June 1, 2025 Image Credits:Aleksander Kalka/NurPhoto / Getty Images Video game union announces first contract with Microsoft Unionized quality assurance testers at video game holding company ZeniMax announced Friday that they have reached a tentative contract agreement with Microsoft, which acquired ZeniMax in 2021. This represents Microsoft’s first union contract in the United States. It’s been a little over two years since approximately 300 QA testers announced that they were unionizing through the Communications Workers of America, and they said they’ve been negotiating with Microsoft ever since. Bloomberg reports that the contract terms include an across-the-board, 13.5% pay raise on July 1. The contract also incorporates an already-announced agreement around the use of AI. Union members are scheduled to vote on ratifying the contract on June 20. In a statement, QA tester and union bargaining committee member Page Branson called this “a monumental victory for all current video game workers and for those that come after.” While ZeniMax’s QA workers were the first to unionize at Microsoft, other teams have followed suit, and the CWA said it now counts more than 2,000 Microsoft video game workers as members. Topics

The Communications Workers of America, the union representing QA testers at ZeniMax, announced today that it has reached a tentative agreement on a labor contract with Microsoft. If implemented, this contract will be one of the first to go into effect at one of the big AAA game publishers.Last month, the union voted to authorize a strike in response to challenges to the contract negotiation process; this agreement would avoid a strike from being carried out. In a press release, CWA shared that the agreed contract would grant ZeniMax employees significantly increased protections and would raise pay across the board. It would also implement guidelines on the use of AI, restrict "arbitrary dismissal," and create processes to ensure that QA testers adequately receive credit in video games that they contribute to.QA testing has been a hotspot of unionization efforts in the games industry, some of which have been targeted with union-busting efforts. At ZeniMax, the QA testers' union represents around 300 employees and has been fighting for several years for this contract. In response to the agreement, Jessee Leese, a QA tester and union representative at ZeniMax, stated, "Video games have been the revenue titan of the entire entertainment industry for years, and the workers who develop these games are too often exploited for their passion and creativity. Organizing unions, bargaining for a contract, and speaking with one collective voice has allowed workers to take back the autonomy we all deserve."Continue Reading at GameSpot

ZeniMax Workers United just became the biggest game developer union in the country yet to win a contract at a major publisher. The group of over 300 quality assurance testers across franchises like Fallout and Doom secured an agreement with Microsoft that includes wage increases, salary minimums, and crediting procedures. Suggested ReadingWhy People Are Rushing To Sell Their Xbox Series X To GameStop Right Now Share SubtitlesOffEnglishSuggested ReadingWhy People Are Rushing To Sell Their Xbox Series X To GameStop Right Now Share SubtitlesOffEnglishWhy People Are Rushing To Sell Their Xbox Series X To GameStop Right Now “Video games have been the revenue titan of the entire entertainment industry for years, and the workers who develop these games are too often exploited for their passion and creativity. Organizing unions, bargaining for a contract, and speaking with one collective voice has allowed workers to take back the autonomy we all deserve,” ZeniMax QA tester and bargaining committee member Jessee Leese said in a press release. “Our first contract is an invitation for video game professionals everywhere to take action. We’re the ones who make these games, and we’ll be the ones to set new standards for fair treatment.”The contract will now go to the full membership for review with a ratification vote planned for June 20. Once completed, ZeniMax devs, including staff at Bethesda Game Studios, will have won the biggest collective bargaining agreement yet of any of the major gaming unions that have formed in recent years. Sega of America staff secured their first union contract last year, while developers at other Microsoft-owned studios, including the Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft teams at Blizzard, as well as Call of Duty testers at Raven Software, continue bargaining. The ZeniMax contract comes just two months after union employees there threatened to go on strike if an agreement wasn’t reached following a nearly two-year-long negotiation process. The Communications Workers of America, which represents ZeniMax Workers United and other Microsoft gaming unions, previously filed an unfair labor practice charge against the tech giant claiming it was slow-walking the talks. The new contract, once ratified, will provide important benchmarks for other teams currently hashing out agreements. Correction 5/30/2025 6:56 p.m. ET: Sega of America workers were the first union at a major gaming company to secure a contract. .

After two years of negotiating, ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, the union representing quality assurance workers at ZeniMax Media, has reached a tentative union contract with Microsoft, according to the Communication Workers of America. The union originally formed in 2023 and was immediately recognized by Microsoft, which made its commitment to stay neutral towards union organizing at ZeniMax official in 2024. The new contract will cover over 300 ZeniMax employees and includes "substantial across-the-board wage increases as well as new minimum salaries for workers," the CWA says. The contract also includes language protecting workers from the impacts of AI and "a crediting policy that clearly acknowledges the QA workers’ contributions to the video games they help create." "Video games have been the revenue titan of the entire entertainment industry for years, and the workers who develop these games are too often exploited for their passion and creativity," Jessee Leese, a QA tester and ZeniMax Workers United-CWA bargaining committee member shared in the CWA announcement. "Our first contract is an invitation for video game professionals everywhere to take action. We're the ones who make these games, and we'll be the ones to set new standards for fair treatment." The new contract is considered "tentative" until union members ratify it, but because existing contracts often act as a reference in ongoing negotiations, the agreements ZeniMax workers secured will likely serve as a standard for other unions going forward. ZeniMax QA testers aren't the only video game union at Microsoft — QA workers at Raven Software, QA workers at Activision, workers at ZeniMax Online Studios and the development team behind Overwatch are all still in active negotiations with the company. Outside of Microsoft, the CWA also announced the United Game Workers-CWA union at this year's GDC, as a another option for representation. United Game Workers-CWA is a direct-join union, a labor organization that all workers in an industry can participate in without needing legal recognition from an employer. The idea is that currently employed workers, anyone who's been laid off and freelancers can all still wield power together, even without a potential contract hanging in the balance.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/zenimax-qa-workers-win-tentative-union-contract-with-microsoft-194204789.html?src=rss

Bryant Francis, Senior EditorMay 30, 20253 Min ReadImage via ZeniMax Workers United-CEWA.At a GlanceZeniMax Workers Untied-CWA has signed a tentative contract agreement with Microsoft after two years of negotiating.Unionized QA workers at ZeniMax celebrated a huge win today with the news that their union, ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, and ZeniMax parent company Microsoft finally reached a tentative contract agreement two years after unionizing in 2023.The new contract includes "substantial" across-the-board wage increases and new minimum salaries for employees and policies for introducing AI tools in the workplace (policies first agreed upon in late 2023).It also includes protections against arbitrary dismissal, grievance procedures, and a robust crediting policy to ensure QA workers are recognized for their work on ZeniMax games. The CWA declared that the agreement "sets new standards" for the video game industry."Video games have been the revenue titan of the entire entertainment industry for years, and the workers who develop these games are too often exploited for their passion and creativity," said ZeniMax QA tester Jessee Leese, who is a member of the bargaining committee. "Our first contract is an invitation for video game professionals everywhere to take action."The agreement follows a brief public spat between the two parties from November 2024 through April 2025. The union has spoken out against Microsoft's decision to outsource more work to outside contractors and accused it of "hindering" contract negotiations, briefly going on strike last year and voting to authorize a second strike this spring. Microsoft denied the accusation, saying made "fair" proposals to the bargaining committee (Raven Software union members made similar claims about Microsoft in August 2024).Related:That the two groups could go from public verbal sparring to a successful bargaining agreement in under two months shows that some form of progress came after workers threatened that second strike.Unions possess negotiation tools that individuals don'tAdapting the union's contract and tactics is a potentially powerful way to In 2024 ZeniMax union leaders Autumn Mitchell and Chris Lusco broke down the benefits of the unionization process in a conversation on the Game Developer Podcast, explaining that choosing to unionize has created new bargaining opportunities that individual employees don't possess.For instance, the pair discussed the concept of "recall rights," a term the included in the bargaining agreement that requires employers to offer laid-off employees a chance to return to the company if they reopen their positions within 2-3 years after being laid off. Unionizing workers in the United States also benefit what's known as a "status quo" condition for workers' contracts that are immediately imposed when a union is declared, preventing their employer from suddenly shrinking benefits.Related:"We're talking about eliminating that 'revolving door' at least to some degree," Mitchell said at the time, in reference to how high turnover can gut a studio's institutional knowledge.Their tactics will certainly be useful to other unions negotiating bargaining agreements with Microsoft. At neighboring subsidiary Activision Blizzard, the developers working on the Warcraft and Overwatch series are waging their own (verbal) battle with the company, as are the employees at Raven Software and workers across Activision Blizzard's QA teams.Read more about:Top StoriesUnionizationXboxAbout the AuthorBryant FrancisSenior Editor, GameDeveloper.comBryant Francis is a writer, journalist, and narrative designer based in Boston, MA. He currently writes for Game Developer, a leading B2B publication for the video game industry. His credits include Proxy Studios' upcoming 4X strategy game Zephon and Amplitude Studio's 2017 game Endless Space 2.Follow Bryant Francis, Senior Editor, on Bluesky or LinkedIn.See more from Bryant FrancisDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

Unionized quality assurance workers on ZeniMax Media announced today that they had reached a tentative contract agreement with Microsoft, ZeniMax’s parent company. The workers, who are represented by the Communication Workers of America, have spent two years negotiating this contract, which they say “sets new standards for the industry” including new wage agreements and policies on AI tools. According to the union, the new agreement includes new minimum wages, wage increases across the board, arbitrary dismissal protections, grievance procedures and a new crediting policy that ensures QA workers are included in a game’s credits. The agreement also incorporates previously agreed-upon rules about the use of AI in the workplace. The CWA has previously reported that the lengthy negotiations had not proceeded because of disagreements over labor practices. The union members even voted to authorize a strike in April, noting that they hadn’t been able to come to an accord with Microsoft over a lack of remote work options and the replacement of in-house workers with outsourced contract labor. CWA President Claude Cummings said in a statement, “Workers in the video game industry are demonstrating once again that collective power works. This agreement shows what’s possible when workers stand together and refuse to accept the status quo. Whether it’s having a say about the use of AI in the workplace, fighting for significant wage increases and fair crediting policies, or protecting workers from retaliation, our members have raised the bar. We’re proud to support them every step of the way.”