Unity CEO John Riccitiello has introduced that he’s retiring from the corporate efficient instantly. The information comes virtually a month after the corporate introduced plans to introduce a controversial set up payment for builders, which resulted in an industry-wide backlash.
Riccitiello is stepping down as CEO, president, and a member of the board of administrators. In a press launch, Unity states that James M. Whitehurst will take over as interim CEO whereas the board seeks a everlasting alternative. Whitehurst is a tech veteran who served as president at IBM from 2008 to 2020 and as a senior advisor from 2021 to 2022.
“It’s been a privilege to lead Unity for nearly a decade and serve our employees, customers, developers and partners, all of whom have been instrumental to the Company’s growth,” Riccitiello says in an announcement. “I look forward to supporting Unity through this transition and following the Company’s future success.” Riccitiello turned CEO of Unity in 2014 following his tenure as CEO at EA.
“I am honored to join Unity as Interim CEO and President at this important time in its evolution,” says Whitehurst within the press launch. “With the Company’s experienced leadership and passionate employees, I am confident that Unity is well-positioned to continue enhancing its platform, strengthening its community of customers, developers and partners, and focusing on its growth and profitability goals. I look forward to working closely with the Board and our talented global team to execute on our strategy, and I anticipate a seamless transition.”
Additionally, Unity plans to launch its third-quarter monetary outcomes after the market closes on November 9. A webcast will comply with at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET.
Unity ignited a firestorm of controversy final month when it introduced it deliberate to introduce a brand new Runtime Fee. Basically, builders of Unity-developed video games must pay a payment after their titles have been put in a sure variety of instances, per set up. This mandate even utilized video games that had been launched previous to this system’s deliberate introduction on January 1, 2024.
Unity is an particularly fashionable engine for indie builders, with many studios publicly blasting the choice. Some studios threatened to drag their video games from sale as soon as the Runtime Fee went into impact, whereas others introduced plans to change in-development titles to a distinct engine whereas rallying others to keep away from utilizing Unity for future tasks. Unity even acquired loss of life threats that compelled its workplaces to shut briefly.
The root of builders’ situation with the coverage was that they might out of the blue must pay a probably exorbitant quantity of additional cash on profitable titles, even when they have been launched years in the past. Developers additionally expressed anger on the lack of readability and transparency in Unity’s preliminary messaging, notably on the firm’s strategies of gathering set up information and that the coverage probably violated the engine’s unique Terms of Service settlement.
Unity ultimately apologized in an open letter, promising to regulate its coverage whereas clarifying a few of its murkier components. Although this messaging considerably alleviated the ire, many builders have said that their belief in Unity has been irreparably broken, and others referred to as for Riccitiello’s resignation. While many have gotten their want in the present day, it stays to be seen if it will likely be sufficient to restore the broken relationship between Unity and its shoppers.
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