It’s “likely” we’ll be seeing layoffs in the coming months for software development company Unity Technologies following the release of its third-quarter earnings report today.
The company published its report on Nov. 9 and aims to focus on the products that are most valuable to its consumers. These changes would “include discontinuing certain product offerings, reducing our workforce, and reducing our office footprint.”
It seems the layoffs would come in the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year, first spotted and reported on by The Verge. This means we’ll be seeing these changes start to unfold in the next few months.
Unity’s been through the wringer over the last few months—though seemingly of its own volition. The engine developers’ price model announcement fell immensely flat on Sept. 14, with backlash from the community forcing the company to reassess days later.
Gamers weren’t the only voices in the crowds of public outcry. Over 500 developers pooled together to sign a petition urging the engine creators to reconsider their decision.
The price model changes would see the developers lose 20 cents per install to Unity once the game itself had reached $200,000 in revenue. This meant features like Game Pass and PlayStation Plus would cost developers ridiculous amounts of money as each game would be free to download.
Unity themselves acknowledged this in their third quarter reports. The Cuphead engine designers admitted, “The execution created friction with our customers and near-term headwinds.” Despite this, they still claimed it was critical to creating a sustainable business.
Post runtime fee backlash, Unity took multiple steps to turn the tide. Unity issued an apology on Sept. 22, and even saw its president retire and depart the company just under a month after the incident occurred.
As for how the public will respond, it’s too early to determine. We’ll just have to wait until such changes begin in the first quarter of 2024.
