Unity’s new CEO pitches ‘fundamentally different company’ after rough year
Pavlo Gonchar | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Five months into his tenure as CEO of Unity Software, Matt Bromberg is overseeing his first big product launch as he tries to push the company past an extended stretch of challenges.
On Friday, the video game software company announced the sixth version of its flagship product, Unity Engine, a set of tools developers can use to produce games across a number of devices, including iPhones and Android phones.
Unity 6 is emphasizing stability, predictable updates and the ability to support hundreds of players in the same virtual world at the same time, Bromberg told CNBC. The company is seeking to rebound from a dark period that’s included layoffs, significant losses, a troubled relationship with many customers and a shakeup at the top.
“With the release of Unity 6, we’re interested in reconnecting with customers and help them understand that it’s our commitment to deliver what matters to them, and that we’re going to be a fundamentally different company in that regard,” Bromberg said.
Bromberg, a veteran of the gaming industry, was appointed CEO on May 1. He previously spent almost six years as COO of mobile game company Zynga, which was acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2022, and more than four years at Electronic Arts.
Bromberg’s predecessor, John Riccitiello, announced his retirement last October following a controversial pricing change that frustrated numerous developers. James Whitehurst, former CEO of Red Hat, was serving as interim CEO until Bromberg joined.
The new CEO’s first big challenge was unwinding Riccitiello’s decision to implement what became known as the “Unity Runtime Fee.”
Unity Software ex-CEO John Riccitiello speaks onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018 in San Francisco on Sept. 5, 2018.
Steve Jennings | TechCrunch | Getty Images
Traditionally, Unity sold its software by the seat, so companies paid an annual fee per user for the engine. In September of last year, the company said customers would have to start paying a flat fee any time an app or game using Unity was downloaded. Game developers rebelled and threatened to find alternative game engines.
Last month, Unity scrapped its runtime fee. Unity Engine 6 will cost about $2,200 per user per year for companies with revenue of more than $200,000. Negotiable pricing will be available for the largest customers. Unity says it will raise its prices on a predictable annual schedule.
“We’re saying to our customers, hey, this is something you can build your multi-billion dollar game business on,” Bromberg said.
Unity is used to build the majority of mobile games, including Monopoly Go, which has grossed an estimated $3 billion, according to one estimate.
Slumping stock price, steady market share
Unity’s problems go beyond the shifting business model. The stock is down 23% over the past year and has lost 90% of its value since peaking in November 2021, which was a little over a year after the company’s IPO.
For the second quarter, Unity reported a net loss of over $125 million. In January, the company said it was cutting about a quarter of its workforce, or roughly 1,800 jobs, in order to improve long-term profitability.
Even after a tumultuous stretch, the company has maintained its strength with game developers. Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in September that Unity’s game engine still has 70% of the mobile market, proving “how deep its moats truly are, as competitors have been unable to gain share at Unity’s expense.”
Bromberg told CNBC that Unity is staying away from the generative artificial intelligence hype. Game developers tend to be skeptical of generative AI, as many say it rips off work from other artists and represents lower-cost competition.
“We’re less excited about making investments in generative AI,” Bromberg said. Instead, Unity will support using AI-created artwork and character designs, and will use AI behind the scenes to speed up the release of a game.
Another area of focus for Bromberg has been simplifying the company’s push into the enterprise. In previous years, Unity has said that its game engine can be used for all kinds of 3D simulations, including “digital twins,” a buzzword that describes creating a full digital simulation of a complicated operation, such as a factory.
Now it’s more about games, which can include plenty of 3D elements.
“Our strategy going forward is going to be to be focused a little bit more narrowly on the organic uses of our engine in industry,” Bromberg said. “That comes down to 3D visualization.”
Bromberg said he remains optimistic about virtual reality and augmented reality, including Apple’s Vision Pro headset, which is supported by Unity 6.
“The real strength of Unity is we take really big, immersive experiences that are created in our engine, and then you can distribute them on any device, no matter how light it is — the world’s worst phone, a set of glasses, a headset,” Bromberg said.
WATCH: Unity is a ‘mess’
Alex Karp, chief executive officer of Palantir Technologies Inc., speaks during the AIPCon conference in Palo Alto, California, US, on March 13, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Tech stocks have struggled in 2025, as recession and trade war fears sap investor appetite for riskier assets.
Palantir is the exception.
Against a volatile market backdrop, the software maker’s stock has gained 45% and is the best performer among companies valued at $5 billion or more, according to FactSet. The closest tech names are VeriSign, up 33%, Okta, up 30%, Robinhood, up 29%, and Uber, up 29%.
President Donald Trump‘s frenzy of government department overhauls is partially to thank for the pop.
“When you think about macroeconomic concerns, you as a company need to be more efficient, and this is where Palantir thrives,” said Bank of America analyst Mariana Pérez Mora.
Palantir has set itself apart in the software world for its artificial-intelligence-enabled tools, gaining recognition for its defense and software contracts with key U.S. government agencies, including the military. In the fourth quarter, its government revenues jumped 45% year-over-year to $343 million.
Companies have faced immense volatility in 2025 as tariffs threaten to jeopardize global supply chains and halt day-to-day manufacturing operations by hiking costs. Those fears have brought the broad market index down about 7% this year, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has slumped 11%.
Tech’s megacap companies — Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Tesla — are all down between 7% and 31% so far this year.
At the same time, the Trump administration has clamped down on government spending, giving Tesla CEO Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency freedom to slash public sector costs. Some administration officials have touted shifting dollars from consulting contracts to commercial software providers like Palantir, said William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma.
“Palantir’s business model is highly aligned with the priorities of the Trump administration in terms of increasing agility and being very quick to market,” he said.
That’s put Palantir in the league with major contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, which have outperformed in this year’s downdraft. Many companies in the space are also looking to partner with the firm and tend to flock to defense during recessionary times, DiPalma said.
Palantir vs. the Nasdaq Composite
CEO Alex Karp has also been a vocal supporter of American innovation and the company’s central role in helping prop up what he called the “single best tech scene in the world” during an interview with CNBC earlier this year. Karp also told CNBC that the U.S. needs an “all-country effort” to compete against emerging adversaries.
But the ride for Palantir has been far from smooth, and shares have been susceptible to volatile swings. Shares sold off nearly 14% during the week that Trump first announced tariffs. Shares rocketed 22% one day in February on strong earnings.
Its inclusion in more passive and quant funds over the years and the growing attention of retail traders has added to that turbulence, DiPalma said. Last year, the company joined both the S&P and Nasdaq. Palantir trades at one of the highest price-to-earnings multiples in software and last traded at 185 times earnings over the next twelve months. That puts a steep bar on the stock.
“There really is no margin for error,” he said.
WATCH: Palantir CEO on Elon Musk & DOGE: Biggest problem in society is the ‘legitimacy of our institutions’
Kurt Sievers, chief executive officer of NXP Semiconductors NV, during the Federation of German Industries (BDI) conference in Berlin, Germany, on Monday, June 19, 2023.
Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz | Bloomberg | Getty Images
NXP Semiconductor Inc. fell about 8% on Monday after the chip company announced that CEO Kurt Sievers will step down as part of its latest earnings.
Here’s how the company did, versus LSEG consensus estimates:
- Earnings per share: $2.64 adjusted vs. $2.58 expected
- Revenue: $2.84 billion vs. $2.83 billion expected
Sievers will retire at the end of the year, with Rafael Sotomayor stepping in as president on April 28, 2025.
The company beat expectations on the top and bottom lines but cited a “challenging set of market conditions” looking forward.
“We are operating in a very uncertain environment influenced by tariffs with volatile direct and indirect effects,” Sievers said in an earnings release.
Sales in NXP’s first quarter declined 9% year over year.
The company posted $1.67 billion in auto sales during the first quarter, trailing analyst estimates of $1.69 billion.
NXP Semi said that second-quarter sales would come in at a midpoint of $2.9 billion, ahead of the $2.87 billion that analysts were projecting. Second-quarter adjusted EPS will be $2.66, in line with analyst estimates.
The company logged first-quarter net income of $490 million, which was a 23% year-to-year drop from $639 million.
NXP’s net income per share was $1.92 compared to $2.47 during the same time a year ago. A drop of 22%.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
Microsoft President Brad Smith speaks during signing ceremony of cooperation agreement between the Polish Ministry of Defence and Microsoft, in Warsaw, Poland, February 17, 2025.
Kacper Pempel | Reuters
The U.S. cannot afford to fall behind China in the race to a working quantum computer, Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote Monday.
President Donald Trump and the U.S. government need to prioritize funding for quantum research, or China could surpass the U.S., endangering economic competitiveness and security, Smith wrote.
“While most believe that the United States still holds the lead position, we cannot afford to rule out the possibility of a strategic surprise or that China may already be at parity with the United States,” Smith wrote. “Simply put, the United States cannot afford to fall behind, or worse, lose the race entirely.”
Microsoft’s position is the latest sign that research into quantum computing is starting to heat up among big tech companies and investors who are looking for the next technology that could rival the artificial intelligence boom.
Smith is calling for the Trump administration to increase funding for quantum research, renew the National Quantum Initiative Act and expand a program for testing quantum computers by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. The Microsoft executive is also calling on the White House to expand the educational pipeline of people who have the math and science skills to work on quantum machines, fast-track immigration for Ph.D.s with quantum skills and for the government to buy more quantum-related computer parts to build a U.S. supply chain.
Microsoft did not detail how China surpassing the U.S. in quantum computing technology would endanger national security, but a National Security Agency official last year discussed what could happen if China or another adversary surprised the U.S. by building a quantum computer first.
The official, NSA Director of Research Gil Herrera, said that if such a “black swan” event happened, banks might not be able to keep transactions private because a quantum computer could crack their encryption, according to the Washington Times. A working quantum computer could also crack existing encrypted data that is usually shared publicly in a scrambled fashion, which could reveal secrets on U.S. nuclear weapon systems.
In February, Microsoft announced its latest quantum chip called Majorana, claiming that it invented a new kind of matter to develop the prototype device. Last year, Google announced Willow, a new device the company claimed was a “milestone” because it was able to correct errors and solve a math problem in five minutes that would have taken longer than the age of the universe on a traditional computer.
While the computers people are used to use bits that are either 0 or 1 to do calculations, quantum computers use “qubits,” which end up being on or off based on probability. Experts say that quantum computers will eventually be useful for problems with nearly infinite possibilities, such as simulating chemistry, or routing deliveries.
But the current quantum computers are far away from that point, and many computer industry participants say it could take decades for quantum computers to reach their potential.
Microsoft’s chip, Majorana, has eight qubits, but the company says it has a goal of least 1 million qubits for a commercially useful chip. Microsoft needs to build a device with a few hundred qubits before the company starts looking at whether it’s reliable enough for customers.
WATCH: How quantum computing could supercharge Google’s AI ambitions
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