The original blog post (linked in the article) refers to this as a DynaRec, i.e. a dynamic recompiler. So it’s not exactly emulating, but nor is it the ahead-of-time recompilation that Rosetta 2 can do.
According to Wikipedia, John Riccitiello was CEO from 2014 to 2023. So I think your facts are off, unless Unity was planning layoffs and fee changes nine years in advance.
Instead, note that Unity went public in 2020. I expect Riccitiello was pushed by the board to improve profitability, then left with a golden parachute for being the scapegoat.
The original blog post (linked in the article) refers to this as a DynaRec, i.e. a dynamic recompiler. So it’s not exactly emulating, but nor is it the ahead-of-time recompilation that Rosetta 2 can do.