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John Riccitiello, who was the President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of Unity, will retire from the company effective immediately. James M. Whitehurst is the Interim Chief Executive Officer, President, and part of the Board of Directors. Roelof Botha, who was the Lead Independent Director of the Unity Board, is now the Chairman. [Thanks, Business Wire!]
The announcement only mentions the changes to Unity’s leadership. It also includes some statements from Whitehurst about his new position, as well as his time at Unity under Riccitiello’s leadership. He has not made any specific statements on Unity’s future plans or business strategies. The PR release does not state why Riccitiello chose to retire. While there is the possibility that the timing is just a coincidence, the President retired very soon after Unity’s recent controversial Runtime Fee plan.
In September 2023, Unity announced a Runtime Fee plan. This would charge developers a fee every time someone installs a game that was made using the engine. Unity planned on rolling out this plan in January 2024. However, game developers strongly opposed this change.
In late September 2023, Unity released an update on its Runtime Fee plan that removed the need for developers to pay if they make less than $1 million in 12-month revenue, as well as if they’re using Unity Personal. Developers who have to pay the Runtime Fee can choose between two options: pay set on a percentage of revenue or pay based on new monthly users.
James M. Whitehurst is the new President and Interim Chief Executive Officer at Unity.
