Unity CEO John Riccitiello steps down following pricing controversy

^{Image: Unity}

Game engine maker Unity is replacing its CEO after massive backlash against its new installment fees. 

Game engine developer Unity has officially announced that its CEO John Riccitiello is stepping down from the company. This change in leadership is happening in the wake of widespread controversy over Unity’s new installment fees, which were enacted under his tenure as CEO. The move to charge developers extra for using its engine proved so unpopular that Unity had to immediately backtrack some of the changes - but its public image remains damaged, if not utterly broken. 

 

A recap of Unity’s pricing changes

Back in September, Unity announced that it would be making significant changes to the pricing model of its game engine. The company intended to make developers pay a monthly fee based on how many times their games were installed, in addition to the subscription fee they already pay to use the engine. Developers immediately revolted over these pricing changes, with many saying that it would put them in the red or worse. Other developers, such as Among Us makers Innersloth, threatened to switch game engines entirely if these changes went through: 

Developer Mega Crit made a statement that almost immediately went viral, calling on Unity to reverse its planned changes: 

Following the massive backlash over its pricing plans, Unity released a statement announcing changes made to incorporate feedback from developers. By this point however, the trust it had built up with game developers all over the industry had been irreparably broken. After all, if Unity was willing to go this far once, what’s stopping it from doing so again somewhere down the line?

 

Unity announces a change in leadership

Following widespread protests in the industry, Unity announced that its CEO John Riccitiello would be retiring from all of his roles in the company, including as president, chairman, member of its board of directors and CEO. While the company has announced a new interim CEO, a permanent replacement for Riccitiello is yet to be found. Nowhere in this announcement did Unity touch on its recent troubles with the pricing changes, nor did it hint at any financial trouble brewing within the company. 

Unity did say that it would release its Q3 2023 financial results on November 9, 2023 however, and it’s a safe bet that this quarter has not been the company’s best. It’s currently unclear if Riccitiello’s departure will actually do anything to fix the company’s image in the short term, other than to serve as a scapegoat for its ongoing controversies.