Metacore divests Piñata, returning UA creative studio to rival publishers
Summary
Metacore has divested Piñata, the animation studio it acquired outright in 2023, returning it to independent operation as of September 2026.
Piñata joined Metacore to strengthen in-house marketing and creative for Merge Mansion.
It reopens to external clients across animation, illustration, visual development and UA creatives.
"Now's the time to go back to our roots"
01
A three-year round trip inside Metacore
Metacore acquired 100% of Piñata in 2023 to support Merge Mansion.
Piñata re-registered as an independent studio in September 2026.
Financial terms of both the acquisition and divestiture remain undisclosed.
Piñata's relaunched service scope matches the capabilities it held before the deal.
02
Creative capacity returns to Metacore's rivals
Piñata reopens to its prior client list: Supercell, Rovio, Wooga, Housemarque, Zynga and Moomin Characters.
Metacore's exclusive access to that UA creative capacity now ends.
Merge Mansion must compete for Piñata's time against those same publishers.
Metacore has issued no public statement on the divestiture.
03
Two other publishers unwound owned creative units
Netflix sold Spry Fox back to its founders, who took substantial pay cuts to complete the buyback.
Technicolor spun its VFX and Game Studio unit into an independent entity.
None of the three parents disclosed the operating economics behind unwinding an owned creative unit.
What this means
For Publishers & Developers: Owning a UA creative studio outright shows weak returns across three separate cases now.
For Service Vendors: Piñata reopens a full-scope UA creative shop with an established blue-chip client roster.
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