Unity announced the departure of CEO John Riccitiello just weeks after the company was plunged into controversy following changes to the Unity engine pricing model. Late last month, Unity announced major changes to its business model Unity Engine, the new policy will force developers to pay an additional monthly Unity usage fee every time their game is installed, on top of their existing license subscription, after reaching peak revenue and usage time determined. Immediately, the policy was heavily criticized by the development community and Unity eventually had to change its original plan.
Yesterday, Unity announced that John Riccitiello, who oversaw the fee policy changes, would end all roles at the company including president, CEO and member of the board of directors – and this notice takes effect immediately.
Unity said the company will begin a comprehensive search process to hire a replacement CEO. Mr. James M. Whitehurst will serve as interim CEO, president and board member until the above process is completed, and Mr. Riccitiello will continue to support the company to ensure the process is completed. The transition went smoothly.
Mr. Riccitiello wrote in the statement resignation “It has been an honor to lead Unity for nearly a decade and work with Unity employees, customers, developers and partners,” he said. Mr. Riccitiello joined Unity in 2014 – he was previously EA’s CEO – and was embroiled in a number of controversies while at the helm of Unity. Last year, the former CEO sparked outrage and later apologized when he called mobile developers “the stupidest people” for not promoting monetization of mobile games.
