Unity rejects AppLovin’s $17.5b takeover offer Rock Paper Shotgun Support us Join our newsletter Visit our store Sign in / Create account If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Unity rejects AppLovin’s $17.5b takeover offer The game engine company’s merger with ironSource is going ahead News by CJ Wheeler News Reporter Published on Aug. 16, 2022 1 comment Unity Software have chosen to reject a $17.54 billion (£14.58 billion) all-stock takeover offer from mobile gaming technology company AppLovin to instead pursue their own planned merger with AppLovin's rival ironSource. Unity's board of directors unanimously cast aside the AppLovin offer, which hadn't been sought by the game engine company, after a "thorough financial and strategic evaluation". The board has recommended that shareholders vote against AppLovin's offer. Watch on YouTube Indie hit Cult Of The Lamb was built in the Unity engine. Unity announced their intention to merge with ironSource in a $4.4 billion (£3.7 billion) in early July. The merger was seen as a controversial move among indie developers due to mass layoffs at Unity in June. ironSource is also known in the games development community for developing a malware installer in 2015. The news of ironSource merging with Unity prompted rival mobile gaming tech company AppLovin to table their own unsolicited offer to Unity in an attempt to stop it. That doesn't seem to have gone down very well with Unity's board. The board said that AppLovin's offer didn't result in a "superior proposal" as defined in Unity's deal with ironSource, which could have put paid to that merger. President and Chief Executive Officer of Unity John Riccitiello said: "The Board continues to believe that the ironSource transaction is compelling and will deliver an opportunity to generate long-term value through the creation of a unique end-to-end platform that allows creators to develop, publish, run, monetize, and grow live games and real-time 3D content seamlessly." During an interview with PocketGamer following the ironSource merger's announcement, Riccitiello commented that developers who failed to plan to monetise when creating their games were "some of the biggest fucking idiots". This also caused just a bit of controversy. Riccitiello subsequently tweeted an apology. More News Jack King-Spooner's next handcrafted game has a teaser demo out Judero brings chat and action in the Scottish Borders Alice O'Connor 17 hours ago 1 If you were hoping for any Overwatch 2 balance changes then you'll have to wait until season two The next season begins in December CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 3 The Dead Space remake will chuck random Necromorphs at you as you wander the Ishimura In space, no one can hear you proper bricking it CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 8 Valve register mysterious new Neon Prime trademark in the US It doesn’t seem to be for a particularly colourful Steam Deck CJ Wheeler 20 hours ago 11 Latest Articles What are we all playing this weekend? Well? Alice O'Connor an hour ago 21 Past Wordle answers Here's an archive of previous Wordle words Ollie Toms 2 hours ago 1 Wordle answer today (Saturday 15 October) Hints and the answer to today's Wordle word Rebecca Jones 9 hours ago Overwatch 2 hero tier list Which are the best heroes in Overwatch 2? Ollie Toms 16 hours ago Supporters Only You're probably better than me at One Many Nobody You go on without… uh, you? Sin Vega 17 hours ago Supporter podcast - The Nate Files episode 13: dry bones Bad science is also FUN science! Alice Bell 18 hours ago Japanese dating show Love Wagon has surprising parallels with Yakuza and Persona My new obsession Ed Thorn 2 days ago If you're hankering after Bayonetta 3, Valkyrie Elysium might be a good substitute It's not out on PC until next month, but the console demo has been a surprise charmer Katharine Castle 1 week ago 4 We've been talking, and we think that you should wear clothes Total coincidence, but we sell some clothes Buy RPS stuff here