Unity lays off another 284 members of staff as it “reassess priorities”
Unity, the company behind one of the most used game engines in the world, has laid off another 284 members of staff.
Less than seven months ago, Unity let go of 200 workers as the company looked to “realign some of our resources to better drive focus and support our long-term growth.”
Today (January 18) another 248 have been fired. Unity CEO John Riccitiello explained, via a letter to employees, that the most recent cuts came about after the company “reassessed our objectives, strategies, goals and priorities in light of the current economic conditions. While we remain focused on the same vision, we decided that we need to be more selective in our investments to come out stronger as a company.”
another 3% layed off at Unity.
I've heard to expect more tech layoffs this week.
— Brenna Duffitt (@brennadactyl) January 17, 2023
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Riccitiello said: “We’re dealing very specifically with overlap and a handful of projects are going in the closet.”
It’s reported that those projects included technology that would allow people to view sporting matches from any angle they wished. “In the current economy, it’s not a good time to bring that to the market,” Riccitiello said. “We are letting that team go even though we’re thrilled with the work they’ve done.”
Other cuts reportedly included people who worked in IT security and marketing.
Despite this, Unity’s total workforce has actually increased due to last year’s merger with IronSource. According to the WSJ, Unity’s last annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it has 5,245 employees but prior to today’s round of layoffs, it was reported to now have 8,000.
However, Unity was criticised for partnering with IronSource, due to their previous development of a malware installer. Workers at Unity have also asked for better transparency over the company’s various military contracts.
In other news, another War Thunder player has posted military secrets on the official forums in a bid to win an argument about the F-16 fighter plane.
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Ali Shutler
NME
