Unity Software Inc. has confirmed that John Riccitiello is stepping down from his positions a President, CEO, Chairman, and a member of the Board of Directors. This move is effective immediately and comes following a trumultuous few weeks for the company.
The company announced that James M. Whitehurst will take over as CEO, President, and a member of the board in the interim while a search for a periment replacement is underway. Roelof Botha, Lead Independent Director of the Unity Board, is stepping into the role of Chairman. Riccitiello will continue to advise Unity during its transition phase.
“Working with Unity under John’s leadership has been one of the highlights of my career. John joined the Unity Board in 2013 and stepped in to lead the Company in 2014, at a time when we faced significant challenges,” Botha said in a press release. “John has led Unity through incredible growth over the last nearly 10 years, helping us transition from a perpetual license to a subscription model, enabling developers to monetize, building other game services to serve our creator community, leading us through an IPO and positioning us as a pioneer in the developer community. Unity would not be where it is today without the impact of his contributions. I remain excited for the future of Unity.”
“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 said. “I look forward to supporting Unity through this transition and following the Company’s future success.”
Riccitiello’s sudden departure comes after the company annoucned a swries of troublesome changes for developers. Unity is the leading platform for real-time 3D content creation. In September, the company announced its new Unity Runtime Fee. This policy change sees developers having to pay the company once revenue and lifetime installs reach a theshold. Under the changfes, Unity Personal and Unity Pro users have to pay if they hit $200,000 USD (around 271,830 CAD) in revenue a year and 200,000 lifetime installs. On average, Unity users will have to pay 20 cents per install.
Of course, many developers are unhappy with the decision, including Cult of the Lamb’s Massive Monster. In a public statement, the developer swore to pull the game on January 1st, 2024, when the policy went into effect. Riccitiello has also been reportedly undergoing some shady practises as well. Guru Focus reports Riccitiello sold 2,000 Unity shares on Semptember 6th, a week prior to the Unity Runtime Fee announcement. A reported 50,610 have been sold by Riccitiello this year, while purchasing none.
Unity is reaffirming its previous guidance for its fiscal third quarter financial results. These will be reported on November 9th.
Image credit: Unity
Source: Business Wire Via: @Wario64
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