CW: This article contains details about sexual assault
Update: Unity has told Game Developer that Stafford is no longer with the company in a brief statement.
“We’ve become aware that a former, UK-based employee is currently involved in a criminal case,” said a company spokesperson. “The individual in question is no longer at Unity and his criminal case has no connection to Unity or its operations.”
It’s currently unclear when Stafford departed Unity, but Game Developer has seen documentation that indicates he was still with the company in April 2025—the same month his trial took place.
Unity has so far neglected to answer questions regarding when it learned of the criminal proceedings against Stafford and how it ultimately managed to hire someone with a public history of sexual misconduct.
Original story: Former Unity senior client partner Rod Stafford has been sentenced to 22 years in prison after being charged with 33 sexual offenses.
As reported by The Oxford Mail in April 2025, the offenses include rape, sexual assault, engaging in non-penetrative activity with a child, and more.
Oxford Crown Court told Game Developer that Stafford, who also used the name Roderick Bryce-Hagain and Roderick Bryce-Stafford, was sentenced earlier today.
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His sentence includes a five year extended license. He will also be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and has been placed on the UK sexual offenders register for life.
Stafford represented Unity as recently as 2024, when he attended Develop Conference to host a talk called “The Challenges of Launching & Sustaining Multiplayer Games.” In a LinkedIn post promoting the talk, Unity described Stafford as a member of its Cloud & Game Services team.
Stafford was referred to as a Unity senior client partner on the DICE Summit website and spoke on behalf of the company at Reboot Develop in 2024.
He also attended GDCy as a speaker in 2023 as head of game AI at Merchiston Consulting Ltd, where he is also listed as a director under the name Roderick Bryce-Stafford on the UK Companies House website.
Stafford’s history of sexual abuse charges and convictions
According to a report from The Belfast Telegraph in 2004, Stafford was dismissed from his position as an officer within the British Army and jailed for three-and-a-half-months after a military court found him guilty of sexually abusing colleagues at Ballykelly Army base in 2002.
He was found to have committed a series of sexual offenses including offering to perform sex acts on colleagues in exchange for positive appraisals while also preying on fellow officers during his time stationed in Kosovo.
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“We do not think dismissal is sufficient punishment to reflect the gravity of your wrongdoing,” said the judge overseeing his court-martial.
Stafford acknowledges his stint as an Army Officer on Linkedin, which confirms he left the British Army in 2004. He eventually appealed his dismissal—although it’s unclear whether he was successful. He also regularly mentions his work with Unity in posts on Linkedin.
The historic and very public allegations against Stafford raise questions about the vetting process at Unity, which permitted him to attend a number of high-profile industry events in the company’s name.
Game Developer has approached Unity for comment.