Unity’s office in San Francisco, seen in April 2022.
Google Street ViewVideo game engine maker Unity Software is laying off 284 workers in its second round of cuts in seven months, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The San Francisco company, which employs over 8,000 workers, previously cut 4% of its workforce last June. The cuts follow Unity’s $4.4 billion acquisition of tech firm IronSource, which created job redundancies.
“We went through a rigorous prioritization process as part of 2023 planning, taking into account that we’re in a very tough economic cycle. Our top priority was to fully support the key Create and Grow programs that are core to our vision and strategy. This process, while hard when it leads to difficult decisions that impact programs and people, allowed us to identify where we need to double down and invest more to get closer to our goals, ultimately resulting in cutting programs and projects that did not make sense to continue in the current economic climate,” a spokesperson said.
Unity joins numerous tech firms that have cut staff in the past few months, including Meta, Amazon and Salesforce. Microsoft is expected to announce a major layoff round on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
Unity is shutting down its sports and live entertainment division, according to the Journal.
The company’s namesake game engine, released in 2005, is widely used by other developers to build games, including hits like Pokemon Go, Fall Guys and Among Us.
Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf
