Unity Technologies has bought the game server hosting Multiplay Digital division of United Kingdom retailer Game Digital for $25.2 million. The deal is part of the company’s ambition to be more than a game engine maker and to provide all sorts of services. In this case, it offloads game server hosting for multiplayer games for publishers and developers, so they can focus on developing a game and not managing online services.
Multiplay supports server hosting for games such as Titanfall 2, Day Z, Rocket League, and Rust.
“The team at Multiplay have created scalable multiplayer technology that gives all game creators, from indies to triple-A studios, the [cap]ability to create performant experiences that can serve hundreds of thousands of players at once,” said Unity CEO John Riccitiello in a statement.
Under the deal, Unity will pay $22.7 million now and $2.5 million in 19 months. The Multiplay division included a digital business and a esports and events business. Game transferred esports and events to a separate division and it will remain “committed” to that business.
Game had previously announced in August that it planned to sell Multiplay Digital as part of a plan to raise money to survive in the difficult game retail business, which has been impacted by digital downloads.
“Multiplay is thrilled to be joining Unity for what will be an exciting new chapter,” said Paul Manuel, managing director of Multiplay, in a statement. “It’s a great fit because like Unity, it’s in our core to solve hard problems so game developers don’t have to. This deal will let us bring scalable triple-A quality server technology and infrastructure to a much wider audience.”
“Multiplay’s hosting solution helped us scale our game, so we could simultaneously serve tens of thousands of players across multiple platforms,” said Jimmy Doss, production director at Killing Floor 2 studio Tripwire Interactive, in a statement. “The tools are simple to use and are backed by an incredibly responsive 24/7 support team.”
Multiplay will continue to operate under the Multiplay brand, continuing to serve and support integration with all leading game engines. The entire Multiplay team will join Unity while continuing to operate in Blackfield, United Kingdom.
