A new wave of layoffs has occurred at Unity. Particularly the way they communicated this to the affected employees has drawn criticism.
What’s behind the layoffs? The company behind the gaming engine Unity has previously made headlines with layoffs. In January 2024 alone, around 1,800 employees had to leave – 25% of all staff (via reuters.com)
At that time, it was stated that the reduction of staff was intended to boost revenue growth. Prior to that, another measure caused trouble: Unity temporarily introduced a fee for developers.
Now there has been a new wave of terminations. Clear indications come from employees of the company who have publicly spoken out. They mainly criticize the method by which they were informed about their termination.
Pokémon GO is one of many games developed with the Unity engine:
A nasty awakening
Who was laid off? Notable Unity employees are among those affected. Shanee Nishry, the technical lead of the “Behavior Package” (a visual tool for creating NPCs and their behavior) stated in the Unity forum that she and her team were laid off.
André de Miranda Cardoso, who was a lead game designer at Unity, is also affected (via LinkedIn). Just like Peter Roe, who worked as a lead technical artist.
On LinkedIn he writes:
I was affected by the layoffs at Unity today, along with many talented and hardworking colleagues. Although this news is tough, I am incredibly grateful for the almost three years I spent in this company.
How were the dismissals conducted? Unity apparently did not seek personal conversations in some cases, but sent the termination via email to the affected employees.
This has led to criticism. Peter Roe writes on LinkedIn:
I want to criticize the way Unity communicated these layoffs. Receiving an email from ‘noreply@unity’ at 5 AM informing me that my position would be ‘eliminated’ and that I would have no system access by the end of the day was completely abrupt and impersonal. Unity needs to be better at treating its employees during difficult times.
He concludes his statement by saying that he wants to help his affected colleagues wherever he can. They should reach out to him. To other companies that are currently looking for employees, he says that “incredible people” are currently seeking their next career opportunity.
News of mass layoffs at a company is never pleasant. Whether Unity’s strategy will succeed and actually enable the company to increase revenue remains to be seen. At least with the controversial fees, Unity has backtracked: After destruction of reputation, farewell to the CEO, and layoffs, Unity admits that the new fees were a bad idea
