The US company Unity Software Inc., whose software is used in games like Tencent Holdings' Honor of Kings, announced on Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to form a joint venture with numerous partners valued at $1 billion (approximately Rs. 7,900 crore).
The announcement comes in response to an exclusive Reuters report from last week that Unity was in discussions to spin off its China branch in order to aid it in growing in the largest games market in the world.
Alibaba, China Mobile, Oppo, ByteDance's Douyin, PCI Technology, and G-Bits Network Technology Xiamen are among the partners in the joint venture, according to an announcement on Unity's official WeChat account.
According to Unity, the corporation will maintain control and primary ownership of the Chinese JV.
According to the statement, the JV, known as Unity China, will soon begin developing localized versions of its key products for game developers and will take over as Unity's sole distributor in China.
A gaming engine by the name of Unity, which entered China in 2012, is used to power many of the most well-known video games there, including Genshin Impact by miHoYo.
According to a Reuters report from last week, Unity is considering spinning off its operations in China to help it grow in the largest games market in the world.
The discussions occurred at a time when tense Sino-US relations are exacerbating concerns over technology transfer and data handling across borders, leading tech companies to reevaluate their operations in China.
Additionally, there is significant interest in integrating game development tools with cutting-edge platforms like the so-called metaverse, a fully immersive three-dimensional internet.
A game engine by the name of Unity, which entered China in 2012, is used to power many of the most played video games there, including Genshin Impact and Honor of Kings from market leader Tencent. Competitors include the US-based Unreal Engine 5 creator Epic Games, which is sponsored by Tencent.
