[jayd16]

I think the major problem with Unity is they're just rudderless. They just continue to buy plugins and slap in random features but it's really just in service of more stickers on the box and not a wholistic plan.

They've tried and failed to make their own games and they just can't do it. That means they don't have the internal drive to push a new design forward. They don't know what it takes to make a game. They just listen to what people ask for in a vacuum and ship that.

A lot of talented people at Unity but I don't expect a big change any time soon.

[reactordev]

The talent left ship years ago. The core engine’s graphics team is all that’s really left.

They also hired Jim Whitehurst as CEO after the previous CEO crapped the bed. Then Jim left as he just didn’t understand the business (he’s probably the one responsible for the “just grab it from the store” attitude). Now they have this stinking pile of legacy they can’t get rid of.

[JBits]

Has the talent moved to anywhere in particular?

[reactordev]

Nicholas Francis manages a fund for AgTech after a decade making games with Unity (the engine he made). He left in 2013 so I don't associate him with Unity today but it was his product.

2018 We get the new HDRP and Shader Graph.

2019 there were sexual harassment lawsuits.

The other co-founders left after they announced runtime fees in 2023 and the community fled.

2024 the URP team basically imploded. Leaving everything basically flat.

[whstl]

I've seen it happening time and time again in similar companies, and this is a symptom of a problem at the upper levels, which means it won't change.

C-level set goals are abstract and generic, or sometimes plain naive, and this is often coming from generic requests from the board or VCs.

"Hire as many developers as you can, even if there's no work right now", a Softbank request.

"Don't build, just acquire similar products", from a Brazilian capital management that ended up killing that company.

"Kill this team, their product doesn't sell. I don't care if all our other product depends on theirs", from Francisco Partners.

Employees who stay can't really rock the boat, so it self-selects for non-boat-rocking people. Rockstars who stay must adapt or suffer. Eventually you get so many bad people that you do layoffs.

[reactordev]

The thread in all of them is that the CEO listened to other people’s advice instead of leading themselves. When a ship loses its captain…

[whstl]

That's a good point.

If the CEO is just a parrot repeating what the board says, you get a company full of parrots too. No pirate to guide the ship.

[reactordev]

The best CEOs I’ve seen balance board requests with what they themselves want to do and where they see their market going. Standing on the shoreline when the armada of prospects come sailing in for provisions.

When there’s a gold rush, sell pickaxes and shovels.