Unity buyout talks, AI IP risks and Pikmin Bloom's $36.1m year

Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Silver Lake are exploring a $25 billion acquisition of Unity, according to Reuters. The prospective deal would place one of the world’s most widely used game engines under Saudi ownership.

It would also reunite the investment pair behind PIF’s $55 billion acquisition of EA. The approach lands as Brian Ward departs as chief executive of PIF-owned Savvy Games Group. Ward’s exit coincided with Saudi Arabia pulling back from investments in LIV Golf and the NEOM project.

That retreat is selective rather than complete. PIF has already accumulated substantial stakes in major games companies. Savvy owns Scopely, which acquired Niantic’s games business and Loom Games. The Unity report therefore challenges earlier speculation that PIF might pull back from games altogether.

What would a Unity buyout change for developers?

Unity remains a critical part of how games are made, even if its reputation has weakened. The Runtime Fee fiasco prompted some developers to move toward Godot. A new owner and Unity’s management would have to restore confidence in the engine’s business model and long-term continuity.

Unity’s most promising business now appears to be advertising. Vector helps Unity scale ad sales as it challenges AppLovin. Engine monetization remains difficult, so a highly leveraged buyout could reshape Unity’s focus and structure before its recovery settles. Questions also remain over whether PIF has the financial capacity and whether any transaction would be heavily leveraged.

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 could also make Unity a way to fuel domestic technology ambitions. That may help explain PIF’s interest. It does not remove the immediate requirement: developers need a service that keeps existing, without another shock to trust.

Rami Ismail previously told Mobile Mavens that the Runtime Fee was “a massive blow to people’s trust” and signaled that Unity’s continuity was not guaranteed. His warning remains direct: “The one thing that developers need from an engine is for it to keep existing.”

For developers, a sale changes the ownership and strategic backdrop; it does not remove their day-to-day dependence on the engine. Stability becomes the condition for keeping that critical tool in place.

AI changes the IP checklist

Outfit7 vice president of legal Tina Stockbauer Zagorac focused on an area receiving less attention as studios use AI to speed development: the legal treatment of code, assets and other intellectual property. Her questions extend beyond games.

Her interview identified two linked operational risks:

• What teams submit: Studio code, unreleased assets and partner-owned IP may enter external AI systems, raising questions about secondary use or sharing.
• Who owns output: When AI helps create work, teams need to know what they can claim and how much human involvement supports protection.

Zagorac did not say studios should avoid AI. She urged them to protect their work, remain mindful of the risks and continue exploring tools that will remain part of game development. PocketGamer.biz also published the first part of its Mobile Mavens discussion on AI’s promise and challenges.

Pikmin Bloom turns five with record revenue

Pikmin Bloom marked its fifth anniversary with $36.1 million in net revenue during year five, a new annual record. The game has become one of the biggest geolocation titles around. That fifth-year figure represents 37% of $97.1 million earned through Google Play and the App Store since launch, excluding the web shop.

Pikmin Bloom now out-earns Monster Hunter Now, although Pokémon Go remains a competitor. Taiwan drove much of the latest growth: spending rose by more than 900% in H1 2026 and exceeded Japan over the latest year.

Scopely Explore has a fresh revenue stream and a natural incentive to add content. An upcoming mode takes inspiration from Nintendo’s Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 4, sending Pikmin through underground caves to search for treasure while avoiding hungry enemies.

It adds a proper battle mode for testing squad combat. Collection remains the priority: no Pikmin can be eaten, although they may need to rest.

Twin Harbour changes its lapsed-player strategy

Stillfront-owned Twin Harbour Interactive, developer of the Supremacy games including Supremacy: Warhammer 40,000, has spent 18 months trying to win back lapsed players. Mobile marketers describe cost-per-install as rising for more than a decade, with no signs of slowing.

Growth marketer Faisal Nimri said the first test “was a failure” because the audience was far too broad. Twin Harbour now splits players by spending level and uses incrementality testing to determine whether a campaign changes behavior.

Instead of treating every inactive user as one re-engagement pool, the studio can test whether spend-based cohorts respond and whether the campaign produces incremental activity. Nimri will explain the full approach in “A Guide to Re-Engagement and Incrementality Testing” at his PGC Jordan session next week. Tickets are available.

For Unity, the pending signal is whether exploratory talks produce a $25bn offer. The next market signal comes next week at PGC Jordan, where Nimri will explain Twin Harbour’s spend-based re-engagement approach as mobile CPIs continue to rise.