An end-to-end platform for developers to build and monetize games has been created by the merger of Unity and Iron Source.
A $4.4 billion all-stock deal was announced in July between Unity, which is best known for its eponymous general purpose game engine, and Iron Source, an adtech company that serves developers with tools for integrating ads, cross-channel marketing, and more.
The two publicly-traded companies had seen their stocks fall by around 75% and 50% respectively through 2022, and their decision to merge was driven somewhat by the economic downturn, but also by Apple's app tracking transparency framework which rolled By pooling their collective resources, this goes some way towards addressing their respective declines, since both Unity and Iron Source rely on developers buying advertising to garner new users.
Iron Source CEO Tomer Bar-Zeev said in a press release that the merger would create more value for developers. As we integrate our product portfolios more deeply and strengthen the feedback loop between creating great games and growing them into successful businesses, we are very excited about the road ahead. We can create a world where more creators are more successful.
It is worth noting that AppLovin entered the conversation in a big way when it tabled a $20 billion offer for Unity, on the condition that Unity ended plans to merger with AppLovin. The offer was rejected by the board, who noted that AppLovin's offer wasn't a "superior proposal".
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