Unity Software Resets, Plans to Cut 3.8% of Staff

Popular game software Unity confirms it will be joining big tech companies' recent layoffs, with 265 jobs to be terminated by the Pokemon Go software provider or roughly 3.8% percent of the company, as reported by Reuters.

Amidst the layoff, approximately 14 Unity office locations, including Berlin and Singapore, will also be closed down, as reported, with included details by the Verge, citing an SEC filing as the source. Employees affected by the closed offices will have the choice to work remotely, except those professions requiring onsite presence.

For the remaining offices, which are located in Bellevue, Washington, and San Francisco, Unity will reportedly drastically shrink their "office footprint" by limiting "full in-office services" to three days a week in most locations and will no longer require workers to work from offices three days a week.

The layoffs follow Unity's acquisition of Weta FX's technology and engineering division in 2021. According to the company's announcement on Tuesday, the professional services portion of the agreement has now been terminated.

As a result, 265 employees whose jobs are related to the agreement will be laid off. The report states that the firm claims to have employed about 7,000 people.

Unity's CEO, James M. Whitehurst, states that the company wants to "refocus" by making more modifications. However, he continued to say that although no additions have been decided upon, it is evident that the company will do fewer things altogether.

Unity's Shrinking Workforce

These recent layoffs prove to be the company's "fourth round of layoffs in 17 months," as per a Gamerant report. It stated that Unity's most recent wave of layoffs occurred in May when the engine manufacturer cut its global office count in half and fired off 600 employees.

Before that, Unity had cut off about 300 workers in January, with John Riccitiello, the company's then-CEO, citing unsettling "economic conditions" as a major contributing factor. Approximately 200 employees were laid off by the firm in June 2022.

Unity's projected layoffs were announced on the company's Q3 financial report paper in early November. Tech Times reports that it is anticipated that these actions, which the previously released report refers to as "interventions," will be finished by the first quarter of 2024.

The company's recent employment reductions were partly driven by a need to reduce expenses across the board to boost its extremely poor profit margin.

Unity's Recent Hiccups

Gamerant states that Unity has not reported a profit since going public in 2020. In Q3 2023, the firm lost an additional $125 million, just half of what it had lost in the same quarter the year before. Its income, which increased by 69% annually to $544 million over the three months ended September 30, is an even more encouraging sign from its most recent report.

The business attempted to implement a new "runtime fee" pricing strategy in September, which would have charged its game creators additional costs if specific install and revenue criteria were reached. The corporation redesigned the new fees in response to a mutiny among developers and a sharp decline in the share price.