Peter Jackson Sells Weta Digital to Unity Software for $1.625 Billion and Its Tools Will Be Made Available to Creators

Peter Jackson has sold his New Zealand-based VFX company Weta Digital for $1.625 billion to Unity Software, a 3D game-development platform. That’s a good chunk of change!

It’s explained that in the deal, the VFX tools that have been used to bring projects like The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Avatar, The Suicide Squad, Marvel films, and The Planet of the Apes to life will be made available to creators all over the world. That’s right, this awesome technology is being made available for everyone to use! The tools will be released using a cloud-based workflow, “with software-as-a-service pricing to be announced later.” This is all being done to “ultimately enable the next generation of real-time 3D content for the metaverse.”

Under the deal, Unity is obtaining the Weta Digital suite of VFX tools and technology and its team of 275 engineers, who will join Unity’s Create Solutions division.

Jackson said in a statement, “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.”

John Riccitiello, Unity’s president and CEO, added, “We are thrilled to democratize these industry-leading tools and bring the genius of Sir Peter Jackson and Weta’s amazing engineering talent to life for artists everywhere.”

Weta went on to say they have a goal of inspiring other creators and adds, “We’re Jimi Hendrix, and now we’re selling guitars. We think this world has many, many more Jimi Hendrixes.”

Weta Digital’s VFX and animation teams known as WetaFX, will continue to exist as a standalone entity. It’s expected to become Unity’s largest customer in the media and entertainment space. WetaFX, with about 1,700 employees, will remain majority-owned by Jackson and led by CEO Prem Akkaraju. The proposed deal is expected to close before the end of 2021.

Here’s an announcement trailer that was released: