Game engine developer Unity Technologies has signed a lease on a 7,765sq ft office following the recent acquisition of Dublin-based firm Artomatix.
Earlier this month, Irish software development firm Artomatix announced that it had been acquired by Unity Technologies in a deal worth up to $60m US. Artomatix has spent the past several years developing artificial intelligence based solutions to real problems faced by video game artists, which is sold to clients through its ArtEngine platform.
ArtEngine contains texture design tools that can break down a photograph into hundreds of different details and features and then uses AI algorithms to generate visually similar new textures for use in a game engine. It also allows artists to selectively rub out unwanted details on a texture (such as graffiti on a photo wall or rubbish in a grass photo) and intelligently fills in the blanks.
Unity Technologies produces the Unity 3D game engine, one of the two most popular game engines in use by smaller independent game development studios around the world. Unity has been under pressure recently from competitor Epic, which added a lot of value to its Unreal game engine by acquiring game art asset firm Quixel and making its tools free for all Unreal users.
The new Unity office in Dublin has been selected to facilitate the 20-person Artomatix team and give space for rapid expansion. Unity expects to create an additional 100 jobs in Dublin over the next two years following the acquisition.
Source: Irish Times
