After taking over EA, Saudi Arabia and their private equity cronies have reportedly held talks about buying Unity

The engine builders have, it's claimed, been working with an investment ​bank to evaluate [their] options

Members of the consortium led by the Saudi Arabian government's Public Investment Fund and some private equity suits which took over EA this year in a leveraged buyout worth $55 billion reportedly have a new target in their sights. Unity, software company and makers of the game engine bearing the same name, have held talks with the consortium over a potential takeover, it's claimed.

According to Reuters, a consortium including Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners recently approached Unity about a deal that would value the company at around $25 billion. Unity are, it's claimed, currently working with an investment bank to evaluate their options following the chat, with no deal set in stone right now.

Silver Lake, Reuters note, are already among Unity's largest shareholders and invested up to $400 million in the engine builders in 2017. In fact, Silver Lake's managing director and CEO Egon Durban already has a seat on Unity's board of directors, so will probably have to butt out of any takeover talks.

Assuming the consortium would go the leveraged buyout route, loading Unity up with debt like the EA takeover did, it's hard to see any deal not resulting in similarly catastrophic consequences for those working at Unity. EA laid off a reported 400 people in an effort to cut costs after coming under the boot of the Saudi state and private equity, shutting BioWare and cancelling something Sims-related codenamed Project Lotus. BioWare's demise has since been reported to have largely come down to EA execs not wanting to fund both Star Wars Battlefront 3 and Mass Effect 5, with them opting to back only Battlefront 3.

Unity's recent financial results are looking strong, propped up by year-on-year growth in an AI-powered ad network dubbed Vector, so one would assume that bit of the business likely wouldn't be top of the list if any bloodletting was to end up happening.

Solidarity to any Unity workers who're now having to live under the shadow of this prospective takeover and the upheaval it could lead to if it goes ahead in a fashion which mirrors the EA deal.