Unity Layoffs Sees Software Company Close 14 Branches

Unit has already made itself unpopular with the unveiling of its controversial “execution fees”. Today, the software company is making headlines again by announcing that hundreds of jobs will be cut.

As part of a “reset” of the company

Unity plans to cut 265 jobs, equivalent to 3.8% of its total global workforce, according to a report from Reuters. The company announced it would end its partnership with Weta FX, a visual effects studio co-founded by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.

On top of that, the report also states that Unity will close 14 branches, including those in Berlin and Singapore, and reduce its “office footprint” in places like San Francisco.

It would be part of a company “reset” that will include new policies, such as no longer requiring staff to work on-site three days a week. The company’s CEO, John Riccitiello, retired from Unit following the controversy over execution fees.

The interim CEO, former IBM President Jim Whitehurst, told Reuters that while “no additions have been finalized, it’s clear we’re going to reduce the number of things we do overall.”

Last September, Unity encountered huge backlash when it announced that it would start charging studios a fee for each time a game was installed on a user’s system. The controversy led some developers to jump ship, although a follow-up post on Twitter attempted to clarify what the fees would entail and who would be affected.

Unit is – or maybe was – one of the most popular development toolkits in the world, second only to Unreal. It has been used in the creation of many popular games, including Pokémon GO, Hollow Knight, Rust, and Layers of Fear.