John Richitello, who has led Unity since 2014, has stepped down as company president, as announced in 2014. Press release. Experts attribute the decision to a scandal arising from the change of Unity’s business model for those using the game engine of the same name.
Riccitello resigned as Unity’s chairman, chief executive officer, president and board member on October 9, 2023. His duties were temporarily taken over by James Whitehurst, former senior consultant and president of IBM. Roelof Both, one of the founders of Unity, became the new chairman of the board. Riccitello will remain an advisor to Unity during the transition period.
The reason for Richitello’s departure was not officially disclosed, but netizens and experts attributed it to the latest scandal due to the company’s unsuccessful decision.
In September 2023, Unity announced its intention to charge all developers using its game engine a fee based on the number of times their games are installed. This caused dissatisfaction and protests from developers who began to boycott Unity and transfer their projects to other engines. In response to the criticism, Unity apologized to developers, changed its business model, and offered customers additional benefits on the Personal plan.
Prior to joining Unity, John Riccitello held various leadership positions at Electronic Arts. He is viewed negatively in the gaming community due to his desire to make money even from ammunition in shooting games. “When you play Battlefield for six hours and your clip runs low and we ask you for a dollar to reload, you’re really not that price sensitive at that point,” he said in 2011.
Previously created from memes game about war Ancient Rus and Lizards reached the top of Steam.