- Unity design architect Will Goldstone believes the company is undoing many of its “missteps”
- New CEO Matthew Bromberg is moving Unity “quickly to a place of transparency and clarity”
Unity’s new CEO Matthew Bromberg is leading the charge on “undoing so many of the missteps” at the company, according to Unity design architect Will Goldstone.
Since the Runtime Fee Farrago and mass layoffs left a sour taste in the mouths of many developers, Unity has been busy trying to win back the favour of its users past and present. This began with John Riccitiello stepping down after nine years as CEO, replaced by interim CEO Jim Whitehurst.
Now, it’s Bromberg at the helm, while Whitehurst has moved on to executive chair of the board.
Formerly Zynga’s COO, Bromberg comes from a background in video games and stepped into the role of CEO, president and member of Unity’s board of directors on May 15th. Apparently, he is already “breaking down years of cultural degradation”.
From a troubled past
Change like this has come at an important time for Unity, as the company battles to reclaim favour with its customers while many developers continue to doubt it, or are even “not confident at all about Unity”, according to Muxy co-founder Jared Steffes.
After all, in September 2023 Unity announced plans to charge developers an installation fee on their games in a move to improve its earnings at the cost of those using (and already paying for) its services.
Unity eventually rolled back the plan, but the mere suggestion of the idea worried devs that Unity was either out of touch or just “greedy“.
A change in leadership
Many internal changes have been underway since, and Goldstone appears enthusiastic about the company’s new direction of travel, back in line with the atmosphere he enjoyed a decade ago.
“We are in a really positive period of change, the biggest I’ve seen in my 13+ years here,” he posted on Twitter.
“We have a new CEO who is breaking down years of cultural degradation and getting us quickly to a place of transparency and clarity around what is and isn’t working for us as a company. It feels like we are undoing so many of the missteps with the tech at an unprecedented pace, which feels really invigorating and is giving me the 2014 vibes of my early years at Unity.
“There’s nothing big or tangible to say right now but with all the energy firing up internally somehow it feels right to want to reach out to all of you in the community and tell you that the software you loved is coming back, and I really think it’ll be better than you expect.”
Goldstone later followed up his post with another, indicating a newfound sense of collaboration within the company. He shared: “There’s (as always) plenty of work ahead – but now with very different leadership in place – and Matt being from an Ops background, it feels like the missing piece in an all new puzzle we’re solving together.“
This change also follows Unity’s 8% decline in year-on-year revenue in Q1 2024, though its engine division actually saw a 17% year-on-year rise even after laying off 1,800 staff.
