San Francisco, Oct 10 (IANS): Real-time 3D content platform Unity has announced that its President, CEO and Chairman John Riccitiello “will retire” effective immediately.

James Whitehurst has been appointed interim CEO, President and a member of the Board. Roelof Botha, lead independent director of the Unity Board, has been appointed Chairman.

Riccitiello will continue to advise Unity to ensure a smooth transition, the company said in a statement late on Monday.

“Riccitiello has led Unity through incredible growth over the last nearly 10 years, helping us transition from a perpetual license to a subscription model, enabling developers to monetize, building other game services to serve our creator community, leading us through an IPO and positioning us as a pioneer in the developer community,” said Botha.

The company said it will initiate a search process, with the assistance of a leading executive search firm, to identify a permanent CEO.

“It’s been a privilege to lead Unity for nearly a decade and serve our employees, customers, developers and partners, all of whom have been instrumental to the company’s growth,” said Riccitiello.

Whitehurst previously served as senior advisor and president at IBM, after joining through IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat, a leading provider of open source enterprise IT products and services.

Whitehurst said that with the company’s experienced leadership and passionate employees, “I am confident that Unity is well-positioned to continue enhancing its platform, strengthening its community of customers, developers and partners, and focusing on its growth and profitability goals”.

Unity is the world’s leading platform for creating and growing interactive, real-time 3D content and experiences.