CEO of Unity leaves after new pricing backlash on the Game Engine

Thanks for joining me again on the Dead Drop for your secured delivery of game news headlines!

The stories for today:

Unity Software CEO exits after pricing backlash | NYSE:U (proactiveinvestors.com.au)

 

CEO of Unity Software John Riccitiello is retiring from his position at the company following the backlash to the new pricing structure for game developers last month.

He is quoted as being proud of his 9 years with Unity and the impact he had on the company, and yet it was leadership that fell under scrutiny after the announcements of the pricing change.

For the uninitiated, the new model would be a "payment per install" model for games made with the engine, which would create costs for developers of new games and existing ones. The tracking and action of charging for this sounded insane - especially as pirated games would count towards these costs.

Unity has since changed the policy, though it doesn't seem to be to any great impact.

 

ChatGPT was used to write Gollum game apology, it’s claimed | VGC (videogameschronicle.com)

 

In interviews with GameTwo, an outlet from Germany, former Daedalic staff have implied that that the developer for the recent Gollum game wrote their apology to fans with AI.

Daedalic had apologised to fans for the disappointing addition to the franchise, pledging to do better in coming months.

Sources have said that the apology was made using Chat GPT AND that it was handled by the publisher - Daedalic had no oversight on the apology at all. This information has yet to be confirmed.

There are also reports of crunch, lack of funds and lack of expertise as reasons for the underwhelming game.

 

Over 6,000 games industry jobs lost in 2023 so far | GamesIndustry.biz

 

GamesIndustry.biz reports that Farhan Noor, a technical artist in games, has been tracking layoffs this year and it’s a staggeringly large number.

With over 6,000 jobs lost in the industry so far, and September the worst month with 17 companies losing staff, the economic environment is stated primarily but all reasons revolve around money.

Unionisation in the games industry has been a top subject for years, and the job security for devs has never been so important. If you want to check out the details, the link to videogamelayoffs.com is available in the show notes.

 

CD Projekt staff form union for Polish developers | GamesIndustry.biz

In similar news, the Polish Gamedev Workers Union has been established after three rounds of layoffs in CD Projekt Red over the summer period.

Founded by Lev Ki and Pawel Myszka, who are still working with CDPR, its set to represent all game devs in Poland and is a sign of progression in the industry for Polish developers.

 

Microsoft reportedly aiming to complete Activision Blizzard acquisition next week | GamesIndustry.biz

 

Word on the grapevine is that Microsoft is looking to lock up the Activision Blizzard acquisition as early as...