Unity Software (Unity), a video game software provider, has recently announced imminent layoffs for 265 of its staff.
The company previously struck a deal with visual effects (VFX) company Weta FX, founded by famous director Peter Jackson.
Unity acquired the company’s technology and engineering division, Weta Digital, for US$1.6 billion (S$2.1 billion). The termination of the deal resulted in the lay-offs.
Furthermore, Unity intends to shut down 14 offices worldwide, including in Singapore.
In 2021, Unity made a deal with VFX company Weta FX. Founded by director Peter Jackson, Weta provided special effects for films such as the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and the ‘Avatar’ movies.
The deal saw Unity obtain the Weta FX suite of visual effects tech and its team of 275 engineers.
Source: TechCrunch
The company paid for the assets, now named ‘Weta Digital’, for around S$2.1 billion, according to The Post. Unity promised to significantly grow Weta Digital.
Despite the pledge, they then announced the termination of the agreement today (29 Nov), effective 10 Dec.
This will result in 265 staff, mostly Weta workers, becoming obsolete and losing their jobs. Furthermore, Unity’s global workforce of 7,000 meant this was a cut of 3.8% of its employees.
Additionally, Unity intends to shut down 14 offices worldwide, including the Singapore branch.
On top of that, its remaining offices will see a reduced “office footprint”, with mandatory in-office work cut down.
Interim CEO James Whitehurst added that the changes were not yet finalised, but they would expect a reduction in the “number of things” Unity is doing.
Earlier this year, Unity announced a change to its pricing model to charge developers fees if their apps were downloaded enough times.
The decision garnered the ire of many game developers and others online, resulting in a massive backlash, as reported by WIRED.
Unity consequently backtracked and removed the most controversial changes, but could not regain trust with the game development community that easily.
Soon after, Unity’s longtime CEO John Riccitiello retired, with new interim CEO James Whitehurst taking his spot.
According to Reuters, Whitehurst announced several changes to “refocus” Unity’s business.
Also read: Lucasfilm To Shut Down S’pore Studio, Over 300 Staff Will Be Affected By Closure
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Featured image adapted from Daeun Lee on Medium.
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