We think this world has many, many more Jimi Hendrixes.” But that was outweighed by what he said has been Weta’s goal of inspiring other creators: “We’re Jimi Hendrix, and now we’re selling guitars.

Within Weta, at first there was “almost an apprehension” about making its tools available to the wider market, Akkaraju said. Unity raised full-year 2021 revenue guidance to $1.08 billion-$1.085 billion, which would be up 40% from last year. Unity posted Q3 revenue of $286.3 million (up 43% year over year), topping Wall Street forecasts, and a net loss of $115.2 million (or a net loss of 41 cents per share, missing expectations. The drop came after shares closed up 5.2% in regular trading and hit all-time highs during the session. Unity’s stock price was down more than 8% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company announced the Weta Digital deal and reported third-quarter 2021 financial results. The proposed deal is expected to close before the end of 2021, subject to regulatory approvals. WetaFX, with about 1,700 employees, will remain majority-owned by Jackson and led by CEO Prem Akkaraju. Weta Digital’s VFX and animation teams will continue to exist as a standalone entity, known as WetaFX, which is expected to become Unity’s largest customer in the media and entertainment space. Joe Marks, Weta’s chief technology officer, will join Unity as CTO of Weta Digital. Under the terms of the agreement, Unity will acquire Weta Digital for $1 billion in cash and $625 million in stock. 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.” 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. Jackson said in a statement provided to Variety, “Weta Digital’s tools created unlimited possibilities for us to bring to life the worlds and creatures that originally lived in our imaginations.

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