Unity has announced plans to ramp down their business, including laying off staff.
As reported by The Verge, the company confirmed plans to lay off staff in their Q3 earnings report.
The following quote is text from their report where they made the announcement and put it in context:
“We are committed to a customer-first business model. This business model is enabled by the
right product portfolio, the right initiatives and clear focus. And when executed with excellence,
this business model is designed to deliver faster revenue growth, improved profitability metrics
and increased free cash flow.
Several weeks ago, we started a comprehensive assessment of our product portfolio to focus
on those products that are most valuable to our customers. We are also evaluating the right cost
structure that aligns with the more focused portfolio. We are acting quickly and expect to make
final decisions over the next few weeks. We expect to start implementing the plan within this
quarter and expect to complete all interventions before the end of the first quarter of 2024. This
will likely include discontinuing certain product offerings, reducing our workforce, and reducing
our office footprint.”
As you may already know, Unity’s woes started last September, when they announced new runtime fees to be added to their current business model. There was a lot of FUD about how much it would cost developers, that turned out to be misinterpreted. However, a bigger issue that emerged was the loss of trust Unity’s customers held towards the company, stemming from their poor communication.
Unity made changes to their policy and their communications before the month ended. However, it seemed the damage had already been done, as their CEO John Riccitiello retired from the company at the start of October.
While many were likely glad to see John go, perhaps we should have been more introspective. This was clearly an early indicator that the company was about to shrink. Subsequently, as we have seen this year, when a CEO is prompted to leave a game company, rank and file employees were soon to follow.
Unity seems to be resigned to their seeming fate of a shrinking, if still viable, business.
It’s unfortunate that poor business planning and communication had ruined this relationship between game developers and the engine. However, it must be noted that Unity’s assessment of their business this September was that it did need more income going in to push the game engine and the business forward. None of that is going to be happening now.
GameRanx wishes the best for Unity’s employees, and hopes that those who will be laid off will find new jobs back in the industry soon.
