Unity CEO John Riccitiello is sorry for calling devs "fucking idiots," regrets using "crude" language

Unity CEO John Riccitiello has apologized after calling some developers "fucking idiots" during a recent interview with PocketGamer.biz.

The comment came after Unity announced it was merging with IronSource in what it claimed was is a bid to help developers start implementing effective monetisation techniques earlier in the production pipeline.

The news proved controversial given IronSource's historic affiliation with malicious adware and the fact Unity announced the move just weeks after reportedly laying off a significant number of employees.

Outlining the deal during an interview with PG.biz, however, Riccitiello suggested that creators who aren't thinking about how to make money during the halcyon days of production are "some of the biggest fucking idiots," presumably trying to make a point about how Unity has their best interests at heart with the IronSource merger.

Given the deal had already proven divisive among the development community, those remarks quickly gained traction on social media and sparked even more anger.

Unity is trying to fix a public relations debacle

In response to those dismayed voices, a Unity spokesperson claimed that Riccitiello's comments were taken out of context and said it has "nothing but support" for its creator community. Over the weekend, however Riccitiello took to Twitter in an effort to set the record straight and issued an apology for his "crude" choice of words.

"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 wrote. "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."

In the lengthy statement, the Unity boss claims to have a "great respect for game developers" from triple-A creators to smaller indies, adding that irrespective of whether a developer wants to hit the revenue jackpot with a project or work on a smaller hobby project for personal fulfilment, "both of these motivations are noble."

"What I was trying to say, and clearly failed at saying, is that there are better ways for game developers to get an early read on what players think of their game. To learn from their feedback. And if the developer wants, to adjust the game based on this feedback. It's a choice to listen and act or just to listen. Again, both are very valid choices," said Riccitiello.

"If I had been smarter in choosing my words I would have said just this: we are 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. Anyway, that's it. Lots of words. And a sentence I wish I had never said."