More Unity layoffs have been announced today as Unity has decided to lay off 265 employees after ending its agreement with Weta Digital where Unity obtained the use of crucial VFX tools.
In late 2021, Unity acquired the Peter Jackson FX company Weta Digital for $1.62 billion, and in the deal Unity “the software company access to Weta’s artist tools, core pipeline, intellectual property, and engineering talent.” While there were many mergers and collaborations in 2021, today Unity has announced that they are not only dissolving this deal with Weta Digital, but the employees protected under the agreement would lose their jobs. This number is 265 employees large. Further Unity layoffs were also forecasted by their Q3 2023 financial report.
Back on November 10, Unity CEO James Whitehurst said “However, we are currently doing too much, we are not achieving the synergies that exist across our portfolio, and we are not executing to our full potential. We aim to address these opportunities to emerge as a leaner, more agile, and faster-growing company” to forecast further Unity layoffs. Unity has recently fallen out of favour with fans due to its attempt at utilizing a download fee in order to make money on its storefront.
This latest round of Unity layoffs comes from the termination of the Weta Digital agreement. Weta says Unity gained substantial usage out of its digital VFX tools, and that they will attempt to re-hire the 265 employees cut by Unity in the termination of the agreement. Unity is referring to this latest move as a full-on “company reset,” and they’ve said “Unity believes the Weta Digital team are remarkable, but Unity needs to become leaner as it focuses its expertise on its core business,” continuing with “It also believes it makes more sense for Weta FX to own full end-to-end production activities directly.”
While the professional part of the Weta agreement has been terminated, it remains to be seen whether or not Unity is aiming to become even “leaner” in the immediate future.
