Game engine maker Unity lays off 600 employees and plans to close half its offices worldwide

John Riccitiello at TechCrunch Disrupt 2018 — (Image credit: Steve Jennings (Getty Images))

Unity has laid off approximately 600 employees in its third round of layoffs over the past year, according to a Wall Street Journal report, which says the company is also looking to cut the number of offices it maintains worldwide nearly in half over the next few years, from 58 to 30.

According to Unity, the layoffs are part of an effort to reduce layers of management, streamline its operations, and improve the company's profitability. "It's all about setting ourselves up for higher growth," Unity CEO John Riccitiello said.

The job cuts follow two previous rounds of layoffs, one in January and one in June 2022, which saw more than 500 people put out of work. The 600 employees let go in this round represent a little more than 8% of Unity's total workforce.

The layoffs come shortly after Unity reported its first profitable quarter since going public in 2022: The company earned revenues of $451 million for its fourth quarter, which ended on December 31, 2022, and "record revenue" of $1.39 billion for the full year. That's an awful lot of money, but apparently not enough: Unity's growth apparently slowed last year, and revenue forecasts for the company's next quarter are lower than expected. That's taken a toll on the company's share price, which is down 11% so far this year, while the NASDAQ stock exchange as a whole is up 15%.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.