Unity posted Riccitiello’s retirement following developer backlash over the company’s new pricing structure.
Unity started out as a game tool for the Mac platform, helping users create games and make money off them. Currently, Unity is the go-to tech for creating mobile games and directly competes with Unreal Engine for console and PC developers.
In a published press release, Unity announced Riccitiello’s retirement ‘effective immediately’ as the company’s CEO, president, and chairman. Jim Whitehurst replaces Riccitiello as the president and CEO. The backlash started when the company introduced a new licensing change, specifically a new runtime fee that replaced its flat fee per license model.
Developers took up arms over the changes, saying that they would have to fork over more money to maintain their licenses. Riccitiello planned a town hall meeting but it was quickly scrapped when a threat was made to its offices. The company then promptly rolled back controversial aspects and reworked the licensing plan entirely.
