The Coming Game Engine Inflection Point

Barely a month after the major restructuring, Riccitiello announced plans for Unity to merge with ironSource, an ‘app monetisation’ platform. This merger would narrow the game engine’s focus to use cases that prioritise micro-transactions, data collection and paywalls.

Unity represents the largest single game engine in terms of market-share, application and adoption. In 2022, its future is uncertain and focused on a pivot headed by a corporate leader who had demonstrably failed in similar roles with similar strategies. More worryingly, in an era of unprecedented US domestic and international belligerence, this repositioning by company whose products are installed on millions of devices – from smartphones to medical training programmes to electric cars to military use – is a direct move into data-brokerage and surveillance. Organisations and companies outside of the United States hoping to incorporate game engines into their work must evaluate this new development as a major threat to a project’s digital integrity.