Unity declares AI marketplace: 'I believe A.I. will change gaming'

June 28, 2023: -On Tuesday, Unity shares climbed 12% after the gaming tool maker announced a marketplace for artificial intelligence software that sets it as a platform in the most burning part of the technology industry.

Unity’s customers, which use its game machine software to produce games for phones, consoles, and virtual reality headsets, will be able to choose from software that can do things such as develop game dialogue or textures and pictures using A.I. from independent companies such as Inworld A.I. or Polyhive.

A.I. companies can spread their software to game makers and charge for it through Unity’s Asset Store.

The surge in Unity’s price comes as company officials have talked about the potential they see in A.I. in recent weeks.

“I think A.I. will adjust gaming in some profound ways. One of them is it’s going to make games faster, cheaper, and better,” Unity CEO John Riccitiello said in an interview published Monday by the Associated Press. “It’s already happening.”

Separately, the company was also given an overweight rating and a target price of $48 by Wells Fargo analyst Brian Fitzgerald in a note Tuesday.

Fitzgerald and his team said investors might see Unity’s current share price as a buying opportunity and that the company could expand its business outside gaming with “digital twins” and different simulation products for enterprises.

“Though we acknowledge that interactive entertainment industry consolidation may, over the long term, drive the development and use of proprietary game action tools/assets by large studios, we believe in Unity’s strong competitive positioning in the space,” Fitzgerald wrote.

The note also said “metaverse” hype was dying down, creating a buying opportunity.

Before Unity started leading investor attention to A.I., it was closely linked to headset efforts, such as Meta’s, because its software can create virtual reality apps.

Earlier this month, Apple said V.R. apps created with Unity would be funded on the Vision Pro, its headset expected to release before the following year.

Riccitiello does not like the term metaverse, a word Apple never operates. “I always thought the word was loaded and kind of stupid,” he stated in the A.P. discussion.