Game engine developer Unity Software ($U) went public on the New York Stock Exchange Friday. The San Francisco-based company's cross-platform gaming engine has fueled a boom in 3D game development, with a focus on mobile games and virtual reality content.
The company offered up 25 million shares and trading began at $75 per share as the market opened, up from its $52 initial listing price. The pop brought the company's market cap as high as $20 billion, closer to big-league game developers such as EA and Nintendo, although share price edged lower to $68 by the close of the trading day.
Unity says it isn't looking to be pigeon-holed in the gaming industry. As investors scramble to put money into tech stocks, the company is making the case that it spans multiple industries.
"We are in the gaming industry, but we're also in a lot of other industries," CFO Kimberly Jabal told Cheddar. "We have empowered creators. We've democratized game development, but we're not actually a gaming company. We're a technology company."
Jabal said Unity is creating solutions for all types of real-time 3D developers, not just gamers.
"We help them to design and to build their applications," she said. "Then we help them monetize and to operate and to grow their customer base."
Unity is also extending the benefits of the IPO to its employees by allowing them to sell 15 percent of their shares on the first day of trading, rather than after 180 days as is usually stipulated in public offerings.
"We wanted them to be able to sell right away," Jabal said. "They've been working hard, some of them for 15 years."
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A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
