Unity Software has announced that, as a part of a strategic reset, it plans to trim 265 jobs, which make up 3.8 per cent of its global workforce. The company is making changes and discontinuing an agreement with a digital video-effects company co-founded by the director of Lord of the Rings.
Unity Software is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies. It debuted in June 2005 for Mac OS X and has since expanded to support desktop, mobile, console, and virtual-reality platforms.
After facing a challenging period, the San Francisco-based company, renowned for its widely used software toolkit by video game developers, including the creators of the popular ‘Pokemon Go’ mobile game, decided to implement a new pricing policy called ‘runtime fee’ in September.
In the 28 November 2023 announcement, Unity revealed plans to end the professional services part of its agreement with Weta FX, a visual-effects company associated with director Peter Jackson. This move will lead to the layoff of 265 employees. With a workforce of around 7,000, Unity is set to close offices in 14 locations, including Berlin and Singapore, and cut down office spaces in areas such as San Francisco and Bellevue, Washington.
The company also intends to change its office attendance policy, reducing full in-office services to three days a week in most locations and eliminating the previous requirement of three-day office presence.
Unity’s CEO indicated ongoing adjustments to streamline the company’s focus, suggesting a reduction in overall operations.
