After announcing that it will lay off some employees before the end of Q1 2024, US-based game software development studio Unity has announced that it will eliminate 265 jobs, or 3.8% of its global workforce as part of a “reset” at the company.
According to a report by news agency Reuters, the company will terminate 265 jobs related to an agreement that Unity struck with movie director Peter Jackson’s visual effects company Weta FX in 2021 after it purchased the technology and engineering division of Weta FX.Unity’s total workforce is around 7,000.
In a letter to shareholders shared by the company earlier this year, interim CEO Jim Whitehurst said he believes that the company has “a significant opportunity to accelerate revenue growth, improve profitability metrics and increase free cash flow generation going forward.”
“We aim to address these opportunities to emerge as a leaner, more agile, and faster growing company,” he said.
Unity to shut shop in 14 locations
Apart from the layoffs, Unity said it will shut down offices in 14 locations such as Berlin and Singapore, pending employee consultation in some countries. It also said that the company will significantly reduce its office footprint for the remaining offices, including in San Francisco and Bellevue, Washington.
Unity will reportedly no longer mandate that employees work from offices three-a-days a week and will reduce “full in-office services” to three days a week in most locations.
More changes in store
Whitehurst told the publication that more changes are in the pipeline to “refocus” Unity’s business.
“While no additions have been finalised, it’s clear that we will reduce the number of things we are doing overall,” he was quoted as saying.