Video game company Unity Software to lay off 600 employees

San Francisco, May 4

The video game software developer Unity Software has announced to lay off nearly 600 employees, or 8 per cent of its workforce, in order to continue to position itself for long-term and profitable growth.

According to a company filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it will incur approximately $26 million in charges in connection with the restructuring, "which are substantially all cash expenditures and which will be substantially incurred in the second quarter of 2023."

"These charges primarily relate to employee transition, severance payments, and employee benefits," said Unity.

These are the third job cuts at the company in recent months.

Unity slashed 284 jobs in January and around 225 jobs in June last year, according to reports.

Founded in 2004, the video game developer became a major player over the past decade, by allowing developers tools to create 3D titles for phones, consoles and the web without having to code for each platform.

It is best known for the development of Unity, a licensed game engine used to create video games and other applications.

The company sought to "democratise" game development and make development of 2D and 3D interactive content more accessible.

Because the games industry was focused on console games when the iPhone and App Store were released, Unity was positioned to support developers looking to create mobile games.