Unity has announced that President, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and a member of the Company’s Board of Directors - John Riccitiello, is leaving "effective immediately". This follows on from the ridiculous pricing changes Unity tried recently, with the press release making no mention of it at all.
Riccitiello is no stranger to controversy who said some developers were "some of the biggest fucking idiots" in an interview with Pocket Gamer. Riccitiello was also EA CEO when they first launched loot boxes in FIFA 09, and even went as far as suggesting gamers would pay to reload their weapons in games like Battlefield. No doubt many will be happy to see Riccitiello leave. From the press release:
“It’s been a privilege to lead Unity for nearly a decade and serve our employees, customers, developers and partners, all of whom have been instrumental to the Company’s growth,” Mr. Riccitiello said. “I look forward to supporting Unity through this transition and following the Company’s future success.”
Perhaps under new leadership, Unity can begin to fix up their image.
James M. Whitehurst has been appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer, President and a member of the Board while the search process begins to find a new permanent CEO. Whitehurst was previously CEO at Red Hat and later President at IBM. Statement from the press release:
“I am honored to join Unity as Interim CEO and President at this important time in its evolution,” Mr. Whitehurst said. “With the Company’s experienced leadership and passionate employees, I am confident that Unity is well-positioned to continue enhancing its platform, strengthening its community of customers, developers and partners, and focusing on its growth and profitability goals. I look forward to working closely with the Board and our talented global team to execute on our strategy, and I anticipate a seamless transition.”
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: GroganQuoting: EhvisAnd nothing of value was lost.
Yeah, it's not a CEO that does the work... only implements policies to make investors/shareholders money. This is not necessarily aligned with making good products.
Exactly, and this guy in particular has shown on many occasions that he has no moral compass, no love for the products his company is making and no respect for the customers of those companies. In my eyes he's completely unfit to lead. But I guess greedy shareholders see things differently. Makes me glad that a company like Valve is still privately owned.
Arehandoro Oct 10, 2023
Quoting: redneckdrowSigh, the older I get, the more I understand that unscrupulous tactics are the main pitfall of Capitalist/Free-Market economy. Yet, though it may be scummy, I'd take a scummy free-market over any other form of market.
And that is based on personal experience with other form of market or simply from what you've heard on TV?
Quoting: redneckdrowCapitalist, Communist, Republican, Monarchist, Oligarchic, Theocratic, Fascist, and Anarchist economies all have things that make economics equally nightmarish. Not to mention that any of those governments can any/multiples of those economies, irrespective of their politics.
Eeehhh nope.
ssj17vegeta Oct 10, 2023
Don't ever think for a second someone much "nicer" wouldn't jump on the occasion to fuck indie devs over.
Mountain Man Oct 10, 2023
Quoting: redneckdrowQuoting: GroganQuoting: EhvisAnd nothing of value was lost.
Yeah, it's not a CEO that does the work... only implements policies to make investors/shareholders money. This is not necessarily aligned with making good products.
I mean, Ayn Rand was less self-absorbed than your average CEO these days. Sigh, the older I get, the more I understand that unscrupulous tactics are the main pitfall of Capitalist/Free-Market economy. Yet, though it may be scummy, I'd take a scummy free-market over any other form of market.
Extremes in any form of market are terrible, no matter who that market is controlled by.
I had to write a paper on Free vs Closed vs Single vs "Post-Free" markets as a teenager, and my A.P. Government and Politics teacher gave me an extension after I showed her the first six (Unspaced!) pages. It was double that before I was done. I have never had that much to say on a topic since. I went way beyond the assignment, because I went "down the rabbit hole" as it were; I've been burned out on writing for nearly a decade-and-a-half since.
Spoiler, click me
Apropos of nothing, and without revealing too much else, I also happened to pass three A.P. exams that year. I still haven't gone to College (University to you folks across the pond), but if-and-when I do, I'll have quite a few classes that I won't have to take. I never want to touch College Algebra again; it was all I could do to get a B- in that class! I still dream about polynomials and imaginary numbers!
Capitalist, Communist, Republican, Monarchist, Oligarchic, Theocratic, Fascist, and Anarchist economies all have things that make economics equally nightmarish. Not to mention that any of those governments can any/multiples of those economies, irrespective of their politics.
Doesn't mean I have to tolerate scummy CEOs! My grandfather was a member of Local 89 his whole life! He even paid his dues every year after he retired! I'll be a union man 'til the day I die and stand judged. Power to the people!
As the saying goes, capitalism is a terrible economic system; it just happens to be better than every other economic system that's been tried.
Last edited by Mountain Man on 10 October 2023 at 10:45 am UTC
benstor214 Oct 10, 2023
Quoting: Purple Library GuyWait… is this some kind of grotesque Turing test?Quoting: TheSHEEEPYou could basically let AI write the entire play at this point.Technically, we don't know for sure that isn't how it was done.
From soulless corporate leaving blabla to soulless corporate replacement blabla and generic corporate statement as glue between those event.
Nobody would notice if any of those things were or were not written by a human being, as everything is just meaningless platitudes anyway.
Quoting: TheSHEEEPYou could basically let AI write the entire play at this point.
From soulless corporate leaving blabla to soulless corporate replacement blabla and generic corporate statement as glue between those events.
Nobody would notice if any of those things were or were not written by a human being, as everything is just meaningless platitudes anyway.
Quoting: Purple Library GuyTechnically, we don't know for sure that isn't how it was done.
Quoting: benstor214Wait… is this some kind of grotesque Turing test?I think I prefer this AI-written movie...
benstor214 Oct 10, 2023
Quoting: PenglingI think I prefer this AI-written movie...Meh… I think I prefer Sump’n Claus ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Philadelphus Oct 10, 2023
Mind you, I think this is all shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. The investors/board members (whoever has the power here) are spooked and going into damage-control mode, but the reputational damage has been done at this point, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see a sea change in developers moving away from Unity in the next few years.
Caldathras Oct 10, 2023
Quoting: Mountain ManAs the saying goes, capitalism is a terrible economic system; it just happens to be better than every other economic system that's been tried.
That's just the propaganda of capitalism. There are other options that the elite just don't want us to look at. Try syndicalism (businesses are co-ops owned by the workers), distributism (Gandhian economics) or social credit (banks owned by the state). The info is all online.
Last edited by Caldathras on 10 October 2023 at 7:41 pm UTC
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