AppLovin gives up on Unity merger

Software platform AppLovin announced an and to its efforts to merge with Unity. Following the rejection of its $20 billion offer in August, AppLovin has reportedly decide to give up on bringing the game engine maker into its fold. 

“Following careful consideration, AppLovin concluded that its path as the independent market leader is better for its stockholders and other stakeholders,” wrote AppLovin in a statement. 

The proposal came weeks after Unity’s controversial move to merge with app monetization platform IronSource in a $4.4 billion deal. Had the AppLovin merger gone through, one of the stipulations was that Unity would have to terminate the IronSource deal. Unity rejected that part of the deal and is moving forward with IronSource.

During its initial proposal, AppLovin claimed that merging with Unity would “offer the most comprehensive and fully integrated creation and growth platform for app developers.” That merger also would’ve resulted in current Unity CEO John Riccitello becoming the leader of the combined company, while AppLovin CEO and co-founder Adam Foroughi operating as COO. 

With the merger not going forward, Faroughi wrote that the AppLovin team would “continue to focus on what we can control, including continual improvements to our products and technology and expanding into newer high-growth markets.”

Earlier today, Unity execs Marc Whitten and Ralph Hauwert spoke to Game Developer about Unity’s recent headlines, from IronSource to its decision to increase the price on its subscriptions in October. Despite everything that’s been happening at the company, both men reiterated that game developers take priority at Unity. 

“Sometimes we’re so busy building our product that we forget to talk more about what we’re doing for the game development community,” said Hauwert.

“We weren’t talking enough, and we weren’t being clear enough with where we were going with gaming,” continued Whitten. He further added that Unity leadership wants to make clear that games remain a key focus point for the company, though specifics on what that means are currently up in the air.