This article is also available in:
Français
Unity announces that the company is ending the sale of Ziva VFX, Ziva Real-Time, Ziva Face Trainer, and associated products.
As a reminder, Ziva is a soft tissue simulation solution: muscles, fat, skin. This technology can be used to create realistic faces and creatures. Unity had acquired the publisher of these products, Ziva Dynamics, in 2022.
Unity explains that sales and support are ending, but “active subscribers have the option to convert their existing license to a five-year term in the Ziva customer portal so that they may continue using the product beyond the expiration date of their existing license.”
Another step for a “Company Reset”
Unity emphasizes that this decision is part of its “company reset” announced in November, a drastic refocusing of the group’s activities towards their core products (“Unity Editor and Runtime, Unity Cloud, and our Monetization Solutions”).
This reset recently resulted in the announcement of the dismissal of nearly 2000 people.
With these various measures, Unity hopes to improve its finances and achieve profitability by saving money and focusing on its core business.
DNEG acquires the exclusive license to Ziva from Unity
Unity also announces that visual effects and animation studio DNEG has acquired “an exclusive perpetual license of the Ziva IP.” Unity will nevertheless continue to retain owenership of the technologies in question. The financial details of the operation have not been disclosed.
For DNEG, this decision makes sense as the studio has used Ziva on numerous projects such as Venom, Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire, Meg 2, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, as well as on several films currently in production. DNEG explains that the technology will also “support new DNEG IXP division, powering the creation of real-time interactive digital humans and creatures for upcoming projects in the worlds of gaming, virtual concerts, and theme park ride experiences, and for next-generation headsets such as the Apple Vision Pro.”
Last, but not least, DNEG also states that DNEG will be onboarding “a significant proportion of the Ziva team” as part of the deal.
