Unity plans to lay off an additional 1,800 workers, or 25% of its total staff

Unity has reduced its employment yet again, only a few weeks after its most recent wave of layoffs. As the corporation strives to recover from a challenging year financially, around 1,800 workers will be let go in the next few weeks.

One of the most popular gaming engines in the business is Unity’s creation. Cuphead, Hearthstone, Cities: Skylines, Hollow Knight, Beat Saber, Ori and the Blind Forest, and its sequel are just a few of the notable games that have been made utilizing Unity’s engine. Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite and the Unreal Engine, is Unity’s biggest rival.

Unity said in its SEC filing that the company is planning to “restructure and refocus on its core business and position itself for long-term and profitable growth” by implementing these layoffs.

Unity stock is down 0.62% in pre-market trading compared to yesterday’s closing price, so shares haven’t changed much despite the move reducing the company’s expenses. The stock has fallen substantially from its all-time high of $201.12 in November 2021 to its current price of $38.74 a share.

Following three rounds of layoffs last year, the firm attempted to improve its financials by modifying the engine’s price structure. Unity would have been free for independent developers with annual incomes below $100,000 under the previous price model.

If your annual income is between $100,000 and $200,000, you will be required to pay $399 per user beyond that point. Large gaming companies would be liable for paying $1,900 annually for each user.

According to the corporation, developers will now be charged between fifteen cents and twenty dollars for each game install beyond the first two hundred thousand. Additionally, creators of mobile games or free-to-play games may easily cross that barrier.

After receiving feedback from a number of developers, Unity revised its plans to include a more complex pricing system that isn’t dependent on a per-install cost. A per-user charge or a 2.5% revenue share is an option for companies with over $1 million in sales. First and foremost, current Unity games will not be affected by the new pricing strategy.

Many programmers lost trust in the game engine firm as a result of the incident, which had far-reaching implications. Unity CEO John Riccitiello stepped down shortly thereafter. In his role as temporary CEO, James Whitehurst has extensive experience from his time as president of Red Hat.

Unity said in November that it was “resetting” the firm. This reorganization seems to be relevant to today’s layoffs as well.