Last June Unity announced they would be laying off 4% of their workforce, or slightly over 200 people. A few days back Unity CEO John Riccitiello announced that Unity would be laying off an additional 284 employees. Unlike the earlier layoffs though, these ones are mostly from overlapping positions, most likely the results of their IronSource merger. Additionally the team behind their real-time 3D broadcast sports product were being let go as that product was terminated.
Details of the layoffs from GameIndustry.biz:
In a letter to employees about the cuts, Unity CEO John Riccitiello explained, “We reassessed our objectives, strategies, goals and priorities in light of the current economic conditions. While we remain focused on the same vision, we decided that we need to be more selective in our investments to come out stronger as a company.”
He provided a little more information to the Journal directly, telling the outlet, “We’re dealing very specifically with overlap and a handful of projects are going in the closet.”
One such project was devoted to sports viewing technology that would allow anyone watching an event to see it from an angle of their choosing.
“In the current economy, it’s not a good time to bring that to the market,” Riccitiello said. “We are letting that team go even though we’re thrilled with the work they’ve done.”
Beyond that team, the Journal reports the brunt of cuts came from the administrative ranks, including IT security and marketing.
There was one small kernel of good news in the announcement though. Several of the employees, in fact the majority, impacted by the first layoffs at Unity received other roles within the company:
Those laid off were allowed to apply for open positions elsewhere in the company, and Riccitiello told GamesIndustry.biz in October that about three quarters of the impacted people wound up staying with the company in a new capacity.
You can learn more about the second round of layoffs at Unity in the video below.