Unity, a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies, has announced that they are laying off 25 % of their work force which will affect over 1,800 jobs. This is another round of layoffs that began last year.

The company has been going through some major changes since last year when they started a new pricing policy, charging developers new fees based on their revenue and install thresholds. This caused a revolt from developers and the company saw their stock prices plummet. The fee structure was later modified but only after the CEO John Riccitiello resigned.


Unity saw their stock prices drop sharply after last September's news, but they've been on the rise again.

The company says these projected layoffs are part of a restructuring to improve the companies performance, and profitability. The new interim CEO, Jim Whitehurst, stated last November that they want to focus on their core business and that will drive our long-term success. The companies shares have jumped nearly 40% since Whitehurst announced the company reset last year.

While Unity is not widely known outside the gaming industry, over a million game creators rely on its software each month, including the maker of the popular “Pokemon Go,” “Beat Saber”, and “Hearthstone” games. The Unity game engine makes it easier for developers to publish games across different platforms and is also used in film for 3D visualization and virtual reality.


Hearthstone in the Unity editor.

Unity is just one of the major gaming companies that have been hit with layoffs over the past year. Epic Games, Electronic Arts, and many more have issued job cuts. There were more than 9,000 people affected industry wide in 2023, part of which may be due to over-hiring finally balancing itself out; Though on the Unity side we know this is a refocus towards games, moving their movie and show production utilities to the side.