This week brought major deals in the CG industry, to some extent changing the rules of the game. We have gathered the three largest for you, which might have a significant impact on the market as a whole. This is, first of all, the purchase of the Belgian graphic software developer Graphine by Unity, the plans of Roper Technologies for the acquisition of Foundry, and the transfer of the Ukrainian studio Murka to American The Blackstone Group.

1. Unity bought Graphine

At GDC 2019, Unity announced that they had acquired a Belgian software developer for computer graphics and tools for real-time rendering Graphine. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Graphine is the developer of the Granite SDK, which supports both Unity and Unreal Engine. This toolset is designed to optimize memory usage and load time in games. The toolkit is supported by Android, PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One and PS4. The software was used to create Conan Exiles by Funcom. Moreover, Wargaming also acquired a license for the Granite SDK three years ago and is actively using it in their projects. How the purchase will affect projects optimized using the Granite SDK, but not working on Unity, is still unknown.

2. Roper Technologies to buy Foundry

Roper Technologies, a New York-based technology group, will pay more than £400 million for a British FX company that has created a number of useful tools. Sky News reports that Roper Technologies "made a deal to buy Foundry, which worked on a series of Hollywood blockbusters." Foundry customers include such major players as Google, Pixar, and Sony Pictures Imageworks, and the projects they have worked on are the Harry Potter franchises, The Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as the Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

3. The Blackstone Group plans to buy Murka

Ukrainian studio Murka will be acquired by one of the largest US investment companies, The Blackstone Group. Murka is a developer of Scatter Slots and Slots Era games with an income from micro transactions for the previous year of about $ 70 million. Ain.ua reports that the deal has been confirmed. Details are not disclosed at this time, but it is known that Murka Ltd and Murka Entertainment Ltd assets are acquired through Tribe Cyprus Bidco Ltd, which was set specifically for this deal. It is still difficult to judge how much the developer’s revenues will increase from these changes.

Such acquisitions always have some impact on the market as a whole, and internal developments in particular. For example, the fact that Warnermedia gained control of the Cartoon Network and Adult Swim can significantly change the quality and quantity of content produced by these studios. Write in the comments about major purchases, which, in your opinion, have significantly changed the rules of the game on the CG market.