LogInAllegedly, Collins wasn't laid off and departed Unity voluntarily.
In recent years, whenever a person or a group of people depart a tech-related company, it's often assumed they were affected by yet another round of job cuts, however, today's story appears to be different. According to the latest reports, Unity Technologies' Chief Technology Officer Steven Collins has parted ways with the studio, and unlike the thousands impacted by Unity's six waves of layoffs, he allegedly left of his own free will.
As reported by TechCrunch, citing an anonymous Unity representative, Collins has stepped down from his role as Unity's CTO after just seven months – serving from late October 2024 to June 2025. Prior to joining Unity, he also held technology leadership roles at Candy Crush developer King, as well as Havok, Swrve, and Kore.net. According to the spokesman, Collins departed the company voluntarily for undisclosed reasons and was not fired by Unity.
"We can confirm that Steve Collins has decided to leave Unity for personal reasons," commented the spokesman. "We're grateful for his contributions. As we continue our transformation, we're confident our world-class tech team will keep driving the strategy forward."
Following the news of Collins' exit, speculation quickly emerged within the community about what those "personal reasons" might entail – ranging from actually personal matters like health or family issues to theories that he attempted to address internal problems at Unity but was blocked by the CEO, which prompted his departure.
While we may never know for sure, it's interesting to note that the Chief Technology Officer's abrupt quitting comes on the heels of Unity losing ground to Unreal Engine in terms of game revenue performance, as well as Unity Technologies reporting a $25 million – or 6% year-over-year – revenue decline, suggesting the possibility that Collins' exit may be tied to the company’s struggles. After all, he wasn't the captain – leaving a sinking ship isn't necessarily dishonorable in his case.
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