It seems as though Unity Software is on a mission to make it easier for video game developers and other creative professionals around the world to create amazing things.

It was announced today that the 3D game-development platform has acquired Weta Digital’s technology division – Peter Jackson’s award-winning VFX company that has seen success with its tool suite in movies like The Lord of the Rings, Planet of Apes, Game of Thrones, and Wonder Woman – just to name a few.

Related: Daggerfall Lead Designer Is Writing New Books For Fan-Made Unity PortIn a combination of cash and stock, Unity will acquire the division for $1.625 billion for the VFX suite of tools and technology, as well as the current team of 275 engineers who will join the ranks of Unity’s Create Solutions division. Weta’s chief technology officer, Joe Marks, will be brought aboard the Unity team as CTO of Weta Digital, while the Weta Digital VFX and animation teams will remain under the standalone company of WetaFX, of which Jackson is majority-owner.

Planet of the apes
via 20th Century Fox

So, what does the deal mean for consumers? To put it simply, soon, creators will be able to use Weta Digital’s suite of tools to bring their own creations to life in Unity. While no dates have been revealed, the deal is expected to be finalized before the end of the year. Unity hopes to eventually provide the new technological capabilities to users as a cloud service using a software-as-a-service (SaaS) pricing model.

In regards to the deal, Peter Jackson told Variety, “Weta Digital’s tools created unlimited possibilities for us to bring to life the worlds and creatures that originally lived in our imaginations. 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.”

The deal ultimately boiled down to what WetaFX CEO Prem Akkaraju described as inspiration for aspiring creators, stating, “We’re Jimi Hendrix, and now we’re selling guitars. We think this world has many, many more Jimi Hendrixes.”

Creators have already done some incredible work in Unity. This deal will only add to their arsenal of tools, providing them with plenty of ways to expand their creativity.

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