On September 4, 2023, Vizrt decided to shelve the NewTek brand entirely and fold it under the Vizrt umbrella.
Michael Hallén, CEO of Vizrt:
While NewTek and Amiga haven't been uttered in the same breath in the broadcast studio for decades, the birth of the Toaster was a special time in the history of videography. NewTek and Amiga bridged a stunning gap between computer and video technology in the late 80s and early 90s. And while NewTek inevitably moved on, it's still a somewhat sad day to see the brand dissolve into a company name I'm not sure how to pronounce at first glance.“From transitioning to IP-based infrastructure, monetization, capturing audience attention, remotely producing content, driving remote collaboration, moving to the cloud, focusing on sustainability, security, and the skill gap – we found our customers across both sides of the portfolio are evolving and often need to do more, with less. Now, Vizrt is a one-stop shop to support it all.”
RIP, NewTek. It was a really wild ride.
Incidentally, in April of 2023 Lightwave was acquired from Vizrt, who seemingly had decided to let Lightwave slowly die on the vine with its last official release being in 2019. The new owner, Lightwave Digital, is a group headed by former UK-based Darkside Studio animation director Andrew Bishop.
