San Francisco, Jan 9 (IANS): Gaming company Unity has announced to lay off 25 per cent of its workforce, or about 1,800 employees, in fresh job cuts.

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company, which makes the popular game engine Unity, said that it plans to “reduce approximately 1,800 employee roles, or approximately 25 per cent of its current workforce.”

The company added that the reason behind the fresh layoffs is that “it restructures and refocuses on its core business, and to position itself for long-term and profitable growth”.

At this time, “Unity cannot reasonably estimate the costs and charges in connection with this reduction, which it expects will be substantially incurred in the first quarter of 2024”.

“The charges will primarily relate to employee transition, severance payments, and employee benefits,” the company informed.

Unity has made several rounds of layoffs in the last months, with the most recent one affecting 265 employees in November last year.

The video game industry saw several rounds of layoffs in 2023, affecting at least 9,000 employees globally.

In September, Fortnite game developer Epic Games announced to lay off 16 per cent of its employees, impacting nearly 870 people.

In November, French video game company Ubisoft, which published popular franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, laid off about 124 employees as part of a corporate restructuring and reorganisation effort.

Embracer Group has made headlines for its numerous purchases of gaming studios, media companies, and the IP rights to The Lord of the Rings. EA laid off 6 per cent of its workforce or around 780 people.