Report: Google among potential buyers of Unity gaming engine

Unity, the little gaming engine that could, may soon have new owners, according to a Cnet report.

For those unaware, Unity is an increasingly ubiquitous engine on which a diverse cast of developers have built a number of popular, wildly disparate games including hits such as Blizzard's Hearthstone, rocket science simulator Kerbal Space Program and post-apocalyptic roleplaying game Wasteland 2. Though initially developed for OS X, Unity has since been ported to 15 other platforms, making it both relatively quick and easy for games built on Unity to appear on a wide range of popular devices with little additional effort required from their developers.

Now, Cnet claims, the Unity team is considering a sale. Specifics on who might buy Unity (or how much they might pay for it) are lacking from the report, but Cnet does name Google among potential suitors. Studios using Unity may find this news alarming, as the engine's greatest strength has always been its wealth of developer support options and there's no telling how that aspect of the technology will fare in the hands of a major corporation.

Still, it's a bit early to fret over this deal too much. Cnet's sources aren't entirely sure that the Unity team is actively seeking buyers, only that "either the company has been courting potential deals or responding to interest from its partners and other companies."

[Image: Unity]