Unity boss John Riccitiello has apologised for calling developers that don’t prioritise monetisation in the creative process “fucking idiots”.
Earlier this week, Riccitiello was slammed for stating that mobile developers who don’t seek to squeeze monetisation from their smartphone games represented only “a very small portion of the gaming industry”, calling them “the most beautiful and pure, brilliant people” that were also “some of the biggest fucking idiots”.
After insisting the interview was “clickbait” and “out of context”, Riccitiello has now apologised for his “crude word choice” and said if he had been “smart in choosing [his] words” he would have said that he is “working to provide developers with tools so they can better understand what their players think, and it is up to them to act or not, based on this feedback”.
“I’m going to start with an apology. My word choice was crude. I am sorry. I am listening and I will do better,” he said in the lengthy statement posted on Twitter.
“What I can do, perhaps, is provide more on what I was thinking when I did the interview. What I would have said if I had taken greater care.
“First – I have great respect for game developers,” he began. “The work they do is amazing. The creativity can be incredible whether on a AAA console, mobile or indie game, designed to be played by millions. Or a creative project, a game made just for the sheer joy of it.