After buying EA, Silver Lake and PIF reportedly offer $25 billion for Unity

[DragonSlayer101]

The big picture: An investor consortium comprising American private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and Saudi Arabia's sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF) has reportedly approached Unity Software with an offer to acquire the company at a valuation of around $25 billion. Unity is believed to be seriously considering the offer, and has hired an investment bank to advise it.

According to unnamed insider sources cited by Reuters, the offer was made weeks before Unity released its Q3 earnings report, which revealed a 59% increase in strategic revenue year-over-year and 134% growth in adjusted EBITDA. The report pushed the company's stock price up by roughly 4% and its market capitalization to around $21.5 billion.

It's unclear whether the offer will be revised to reflect the new market valuation or whether the growth was already factored into the original proposal. Either way, Unity has yet to make a decision, with the report stating that no agreement had been reached as of November 6. None of the companies has confirmed or denied the report.

– Unity (@unity) November 5, 2026

It is worth noting that Silver Lake currently owns between 8% and 9% of Unity via multiple investments over the past decade. In 2017, the private equity firm participated in a $400 million funding round when Unity was valued at $2.6 billion. In 2019, Silver Lake was part of a secondary tender offer to purchase up to $525 million in shares from Unity's common shareholders at a $6 billion valuation.

Silver Lake also owns stakes in other video game companies beyond Unity. In August 2026, a consortium comprising Silver Lake, PIF, and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners completed a $55 billion leveraged buyout of gaming giant Electronic Arts, marking one of the more controversial M&A deals in the industry in recent years.

Following the acquisition, the new owners initiated several cost-cutting measures, including shutting down BioWare, the studio behind legendary RPGs like Mass Effect, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Jade Empire. The closure brought the curtain down on the next installment in the Mass Effect franchise, informally known as Mass Effect 5.

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After buying EA, Silver Lake and PIF reportedly offer $25 billion for Unity

 

[Kirby1]

Sucks for anyone who liked using Unity.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Sucks for anyone who liked using Unity.

Why? Is the management that tried to extort all their users with abusive rate fees somehow superior?

 

[WhiteLeaff]

I wonder why, even after the update, we don’t see any AAA games announcing that they’ll be using Unity.

They’re all banding together and embracing that rubbish UE.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I wonder why, even after the update, we don’t see any AAA games announcing that they’ll be using Unity.

They’re all banding together and embracing that rubbish UE.

Because

A) their attempt to abuse their customers with a fee schedule entitling them to continuous revenue every time a game was installed scared off everyone from using it and

B) as a result of "A" a whole generation of developers moved to learning UE, so when a AAA studio looks to contract out a chunk of their work its much easier to find devs using UE then Unity.

This created a constant positive feedback look that encourages more people to use UE. Unity set off a nuke under the foundation of trust their business was built on that they never recovered from. Now only those building cheap mobile games or subscription services bother to use them.

 

[passwordistaco]

Why? Is the management that tried to extort all their users with abusive rate fees somehow superior?

Where did that Unity CEO come from?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Where did that Unity CEO come from?

An American MBA from berkley california whom rotated through many companies.

Mind explaining what a berkley MBA jackarse has to do with Saudi Arabia?

 

[passwordistaco]

An American MBA from berkley california whom rotated through many companies.

Mind explaining what a berkley MBA jackarse has to do with Saudi Arabia?

I just find it an interesting bit of trivia that Riccitiello destroyed whatever customer goodwill EA may have had, then did the same at Unity.

I'm very surprised at the $25 bil valuation after he tanked the company.