Game Engine Company Marketed As Behind 50% Of All Games Faces More Layoffs

Unity, the company behind the same-named game engine, is reportedly slashing 600 jobs as part of a new round of layoffs--its third within a year. That number accounts for 8% of the workforce.

The Wall Street Journal adds Unity plans to cut down its worldwide offices from 58 currently to fewer than 30 over the coming years. Unity touts on its website that over 50 percent of all games are made with the namesake engine as of 2021. Notable titles that utilize aspects of Unity include Among Us and Apex Legends.

John Riccitiello, former EA president and current Unity chief executive, told WSJ that the layoffs are needed "for higher growth." He added that middle managers will be affected. "It was clear we had too many layers," said Riccitiello.

Last year, Riccitiello apologized after saying developers were a "f***ing idiot if they didn't consider monetization during the creative process for making games. This also happened after Unity laid off 200 people. The company fired another 300 employees in January.

In addition, Unity plans to move forward with a hybrid work model beginning in September. That means employees will have to show up at an office at least three days a week.

Unity had record revenue of $1.39 billion in 2022, which included its first profitable quarter since going public in 2020.