- Unity shares surged 12% Tuesday after gaming tool maker Unity announced it would launch a marketplace for AI software as a platform for some of the tech industry’s hottest segments.
- Unity’s price hike comes as company officials have been talking about the potential of AI in recent weeks.
- Unity CEO John Riccitiello said in an interview this week, “I think AI will change games in some very big ways. One of them is making games faster, cheaper and better. ‘ said.
John Riccitiello, CEO of Unity Technologies SF, speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2018 Summit in San Francisco, CA on September 5, 2018.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Unity shares surged 12% Tuesday after gaming tool maker Unity announced it would launch a marketplace for AI software as a platform for some of the tech industry’s hottest segments.
Customers using Unity’s game engine software to create games for mobile phones, consoles and VR headsets include Inworld AI and Polyhive.
AI companies will be able to distribute their software to game makers and charge for it through Unity’s Asset Store.
Unity’s price hike comes as company officials have been talking about the potential of AI in recent weeks.
Unity CEO John Riccitiello said in an interview published by the Associated Press on Monday, “I think AI will change games in some pretty fundamental ways. One of them is that it will make games faster and easier to make. It’s going to be cheaper and better,” he said. “It’s already happened.”
Separately, Wells Fargo analyst Brian Fitzgerald also gave the company an overweight rating and a price target of $48 in a note Tuesday.
Fitzgerald and his team believe investors may see Unity’s current stock price as a buying opportunity, and the company will expand beyond games with its “digital twins” and other enterprise simulation products. said it was possible.
“While we recognize that the consolidation of the interactive entertainment industry may encourage larger studios to develop and use their own game development tools/assets in the long term, Unity’s strong strengths in this area will We believe in competitiveness,” Fitzgerald wrote.
The memo also said that the hype for the “Metaverse” had died down, creating a buying opportunity.
Before Unity started turning investors’ attention to AI, Unity’s software was closely related to its efforts on headsets like Meta, as it can be used to create virtual reality apps.
Earlier this month, Apple announced that VR apps built in Unity will be supported in its upcoming Vision Pro headset, due early next year.
Riccitiello doesn’t like the term metaverse. This term is never used at his Apple. “I always thought the word was meaningful and kind of silly,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press.
