A Dundee company whose software allows developers to change mobile games in real time has been acquired by one of the world’s largest tech firms.
ChilliConnect boss Paul Farley said the sale of the business to Silicon Valley-based Unity Technologies was “great news” for Dundee as it would mean significant inward investment.
Unity, which runs one of the world’s largest games platforms, has vowed to keep Chilli based in the city and add to its seven staff members.
Chilli provides a suite of tools and services to games developers, including the ability to add or modify elements to games without the need for the app to be updated, known in the industry as live ops.
The technology powered the UK’s number one mobile game, based on the Love Island television series, last summer.
A spin out from Tag Games, the Marketgait Business Centre firm raised $450,000 in seed funding in April.
The price paid by Unity has not been disclosed.
Mr Farley said the deal means Chilli’s technology will be available to a vast number of games developers.
He said: “The business stays in Dundee and Unity has a strong commitment to grow the team.
“It’s good news for the city with inward investment coming in.
“We have had a relationship with Unity for several years and integrated fully with their engine four years ago. In the last couple of years conversations with Unity have got more interesting.
“It’s a good cultural fit between the two companies. They have bought into our passion to allow games developers of all sizes to be able to run live gaming.
“Now we have the benefit of their resources, experience and skills. It means we will scale up faster.”
Games and experiences made with Unity reached more than three billion devices worldwide this year and were installed more than 34 billion times in the last 12 months.
Luc Barthelet, vice president and general manager of cloud services at Unity Technologies, said the acquisition meant its developers would benefit from better integrated access to live ops and backend game management services.
“Creating games on Unity is a great first step, but developer teams of all sizes are then faced with the challenge of managing and maintaining those games, which can be very complicated and costly,” he said.
“ChilliConnect is the connecting piece for Unity developers, providing the essential LiveOps and backend services needed to successfully operate a connected game.
“Having ChilliConnect onboard closes the loop for developers to create, operate and monetize their game with Unity and we’re very excited to have them as part of the team.”
rmclaren@thecourier.co.uk