Unity, which has slowly morphed into an in-game advertising firm, announced a confusing new set of fees for game makers in September, only to abandon the policy after studios issued ultimatums to abandon the Unity engine going forward. Of course, the company’s prestige was already in tatters. And the CEO was blamed.
Under Riccitiello, Unity’s value plummeted by more than 100%
James M. Whitehurst, former president of Red Hat, the open source software company acquired by IBM, will take over from Riccitiello as interim CEO while the Unity board of directors searches for a new long-term CEO. Riccitiello says in a press release:
“It has been a privilege to lead Unity for nearly a decade and to serve our employees, customers, developers and partners who have played an important role in the Company’s growth. I look forward to supporting Unity through this transition and following the Company’s future success.”
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Riccitiello joined Unity in 2014, shortly after leaving Electoronic Arts. He led the game engine company’s transition from one-time license fees to an ongoing subscription model, launching an IPO in 2020 and making a series of acquisitions, including in-app monetization firm IronSource in 2022. When Unity first went public, the stock price was around $68. Today, it’s just over $30.
Once synonymous with an explosion of creativity and experimental design in the indie game space, Unity was tarnished when the clumsy implementation of its new monetization strategy caused it to burn bridges with tons of game makers. Now, nearly a month later, we have news of Riccitiello’s resignation.
Initial messages suggested that game developers could be charged every time their games were uploaded, including retroactively. An apology later issued by Marc Whitten, president and CEO, said that the new terms would only apply from 2024 onwards, with much bigger exceptions for smaller studios whose games don’t reach a certain revenue threshold.
But for many developers, it was too late. Their trust in the company had already been irrevocably shaken. What do you think? Please don’t forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments.
