Unity set to lay off 1,800 employees in its largest “company reset” ever

Unity reportedly intends to lay off 1,800 employees in their ‘company reset’ in what will be the largest round of layoffs ever for the video game software developer.

An internal company memo obtained by Reuters has revealed Unity will lay off 1,800 employees by March this year. The layoffs form part of the plans for a “company reset”, announced last year by new Unity CEO, Jim Whitehurst.

In the memo dated January 8, 2024, Whitehurst tells employees Unity will be “reducing the number of things” the company was doing to “focus” on their “core business” and “long-term success.”

The company also told Reuters the “deep job cuts will affect all teams, regions, and areas of the business”.

The first phase of the “reset” began in November last year, with Unity terminating their agreement with Peter Jackson’s visual effects company.

The last 12 months have not been easy for Unity, the massive developer found itself in hot water last year, after it tried to impose a controversial “Runtime Fee”. The fee would have forced devs to pay up each time their game was installed on a PC.

The fee was later walked back by then interim CEO, Marc Whitten, who apologized to developers and promised to heed their concerns.

Unity has been an integral part of the game industry for years. Its engine has been used to build a slew of smash indie hits, including Cult of the Lamb, Among Us, Cuphead, and Fall Guys to name a few. It also powers popular mobile games like Pokémon Go and Call of Duty: Mobile too.

The layoffs from Unity are a concerning start to the year for the gaming industry, which saw record layoffs last year from companies including Microsoft, Ubisoft, and Relic Games.