Following weeks of controversy, partial walkbacks, and apologies surrounding a new fee-based business structure for the Unity engine, game developers and financial markets have responded overwhelmingly positively to the recent news of Unity CEO John Riccitiello's sudden retirement. But that departure may not be enough to restore trust for many developers who have already moved on to other engines.
"Long, long overdue," Gloomwood developer Dillon Rogers wrote, summing up joyful reactions to Riccitiello's departure from across the game development community.
Necrosoft Games' Brandon Sheffield (Demonschool), who was one of the most outspoken critics of Unity's initial install-fee plans, wrote on social media that he "truly did not think [Riccitiello's departure] would happen." The CEO's apparent ouster "is the main thing Unity needed to do to start rebuilding trust, so... it's a start," Sheffield continued.
Sheffield wasn't alone in his surprise and optimism over the move. Indie developer Alex Rose (Super Rude Bear Resurrection) said Riccitiello leaving was a "step in the right direction" that could help turn the company around. "If Unity can hire a really well trusted CEO and make serious positive moves in the next few months they might be able to undo part of the damage they've created," he wrote.
"As the head of a studio developing for well over a decade in Unity, this is the first, most critical step for Unity in rebuilding the trust [Riccitiello] and others set fire to," League of Geeks (Armello) Studio Director Trent Kusters wrote on social media. "Shout out to every developer who was working hard in the background and on main to ensure this happened."
"This may bring some balance to The Force," 3D Realms co-founder and current indie developer George Broussard added.
But is it enough?
Despite the positive noises from some corners, few, if any, of the many developers that have pledged to move away from Unity in recent weeks have taken the opportunity to publicly announce that they're willing to give the engine another chance. On the contrary, Slay the Spire developer Mega Crit Studios used the news as a chance to reaffirm a September statement that it would be migrating to a new engine. After quickly noting that Riccitiello's ouster was "cool!" the company wrote that, "anyways, our next game is moving to Godot."
"Imagine thinking that this changes the strategy of Unity, who are basically an ad-tech company, with regards to how they treat developers," Postiech Games owner Cliff Harris (Democracy, Gratuitous Space Battles) added on social media.
Other developers see Riccitiello leaving as positive but insufficient as long as the Unity board members who also approved these business changes are still at the company. "The position was completely untenable and I hope everyone in the c-suite and on the board who were advocating for install fees have the wherewithal and grace to step down," indie developer Leena van Deventer (Dead Static Drive) wrote. "There’s no path forward without removing everyone who had anything to do with it."
"John Riccitiello sucks ass, but it's also worth noting that Unity went public and now has a board of stakeholders who also seem to suck ass," indie developer Dan Pearce (10 Second Ninja X) wrote. "Unless you see meaningful, long-term effort to nurture developers and rebuild trust, then it's still worth keeping one eye on the door."
Developer aside, financial markets have responded somewhat positively to news of a Riccitiello-free Unity. As of this writing, the company's stock price has jumped nearly 7 percent (to $31.65 per share) in less than 24 hours since the resignation was announced late Monday. But that new price is still down significantly from the $38.97 price quoted the day Unity first announced its first pricing fee restructuring plan just under a month ago. And the stock price has cratered since peaking at nearly $200 per share near the end of 2021.
Investors who bought and held Unity stock at its 2020 IPO price of $52 per share saw their investment ultimately lose 43 percent of its value during the last three years of Riccitiello's nine-year tenure at the company.