Unity says layoffs are "likely" within the next few months
Unity has confirmed that there is a high likelihood that it will lay off employees in the coming months to cut costs.
The details:
As spotted by The Verge, Unity plans to make several internal changes during the next quarter, which will "likely include discontinuing certain product offerings, reducing our workforce, and reducing our office footprint." Due to the planned changes, the company could not provide the usual guidance to shareholders in the report, but the changes are expected to be completed by the end of Q1 2024.
Unity's interim CEO and president, James Whitehurst, also commented on the restructuring near the beginning of the report, stating that the company has a "significant opportunity to accelerate revenue growth, improve profitability metrics, and increase free cash flow generation going forward," but that it was currently "doing too much" which led to the changes to become a "leaner, more agile, and faster-growing company."
Unity has had a difficult year since announcing its controversial monetization plans, which initially required developers to pay a fee for each game sale. Despite multiple attempts to alter the policy, studios have vowed to abandon the engine in favor of others, such as Unreal Engine 5. As a result, CEO John Riccitiello stepped down from all positions in the company last month.
More gaming news:
Warner Bros. has confirmed that it will focus on creating live service titles based on its major franchises, including DC, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones. MultiVerse, the company's largest attempt to break into the live service space, was shut down earlier this year and will relaunch next year.
Sony has announced that it expects only six of its planned 12 live service titles will be released by 2026 due to concerns about the overall quality of the projects. This includes Naughty Dog's The Last of Us multiplayer game, which Bungie gave a negative internal review.
