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Unity reportedly told dev Planned Parenthood and children's hospital are "not valid charities" (www.gamesindustry.biz)

submitted 1 year ago by ram@lemmy.ca to c/technology@lemmy.world

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/5555641

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Developers of indie puzzle game Orgynizer have claimed that Unity said organisations like Planned Parenthood are "not valid charities" and are instead "political groups."

In a blog post, the EU-based developer LizardFactory said the plans to charge developers up to $0.20 per install if they reach certain thresholds would cost them "around 30% of the funds we have gathered and already sent to charity."

As Unity clarified the runtime fee will not apply to charity games, LizardFactory reached out to the company to clarify their game would be exempt from the plan.

However, Unity reportedly said their partners were not "valid charities" and were viewed as "political groups."

Profits made from the game go directly to non-profit organisation Planned Parenthood and C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Michigan.

"We did this to raise money for a good cause, not to line the coffers of greedy scumbags," the developers wrote in a blog post. "We have been solid Unity fanboys for over ten years, but the trust is scattered all over the floor."

The developers are considering a move to open-source game engine Godot, "but we will have to recode our entire game because we refuse to give you a dime," they wrote. "This is a mafia-style shakedown, nothing more, nothing less."

Today, Unity responded to the ongoing backlash and apologised, acknowledging the "confusion and angst" surrounding the runtime fee policy.

The company has promised that changes to the policy will be shared in "a couple of days."

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[-] flux@lemmy.world 97 points 1 year ago

I don't see an official statement but it would be really amazing for a company that is asking everyone to follow the new rules to ignore the well established laws at the same time. They can have whatever opinions they want but these places are recognized as such.

"Some organizations must also file a request with the Internal Revenue Service to gain status as a tax-exempt non-profit charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the US tax code."

"Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc is a nonprofit organization It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3)"

[-] dustyData@lemmy.world 80 points 1 year ago

I would bet money that soon something will leak along the lines, CEO of Unity said that they will not support woke charities.

The whole board of Unity is currently a bunch of right wing nutjobs.

[-] Kichae@kbin.social 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

it would be really amazing for a company that is asking everyone to follow the new rules to ignore the well established laws at the same time

Eh. The whole foundational element of capital is "I own it, therefore I get to make the rules". The laws are for us "human capital", who exist to do what the rich want. This is what they think of us, and they behave in perfect coherence with this line of thinking.

[-] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 73 points 1 year ago

Ah yes, because women's healthcare is considered contraversial by Republicans. The grand majority of Planned parenthood's services are focused on cancer screenings and STI treatment and prevention.

They almost exclusively treat those who can't afford mainstream healthcare. While some men use the services, women make up 87% of those who receive care.

The twisted people who target this organizion are evil.

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[-] tony@lemmy.hoyle.me.uk 58 points 1 year ago

Either those entities are registed as charities or they're not. From a quick google it seems they are, so Unity is (again) talking shit.

[-] GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.org 25 points 1 year ago

But everything else they've said recently was so well thought-out!

[-] Jaysyn@kbin.social 49 points 1 year ago

Devs may as well bite the bullet & switch engines mid development now, because I'm not buying any new games made in Unity.

[-] JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca 30 points 1 year ago

That's a huge ask. As a former game dev, reading things like that would break me if I was one of the affected ones.

Remember the devs are people. You're asking them to redo a lot of work with very little upside.

[-] lobut@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 year ago

Imagine you're a few years in and almost ready to release. I'd be in tears due to stress.

[-] FaceDeer@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago

Well, there is an upside; they'll no longer be beholden to Unity and their arbitrary fees.

I'm a game dev myself so I do understand you can't simply "swap engines", it's a lot of work. But it's likely less work than creating a game from scratch (disclaimer: not familiar with Unity or Godot in particular), and one must be careful not to fall for the sunk cost fallacy. If it takes an extra year to swap to Godot but as a result you get to keep 100% of your revenues (minus Steam's cut of course, if you're going that route) it may actually be worth it.

[-] Ottomateeverything@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

if it takes an extra year to swap to Godot but as a result you get to keep 100% of your revenues (minus Steam's cut of course, if you're going that route) it may actually be worth it.

Not if that's a year you don't have income and can't eat - then it's not a choice at all.

If you're doing this as a side job, and it's extra income on the side, sure. But many small studios and indie devs do this as their primary income, and kicking their paycheck a year down the road is a non starter for many orgs. And with the demographics of unity devs, that's probably more than norm than it is the exception.

[-] FaceDeer@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

I did say it may be worth it. Each team is going to be different.

[-] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

It seems more fair to say we shouldn't buy Unity games a few years from now. Some games may be closer to completion, and they may have gone through years of development.

[-] exohuman@programming.dev 37 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Planned parenthood I understand due to how it is demonized, but how is a children’s hospital not a valid charity?

[-] TheLordHumungus@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago

Fuck children let em die! - unity devs

[-] ripcord@kbin.social 21 points 1 year ago

That does seem to be the conservative way.

[-] MrSnowy@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 year ago

All my homies hate children. - unity devs

[-] wewbull@feddit.uk 5 points 1 year ago

The only question for either of the is if they have registered charity status. If so, nothing else matters.

[-] exohuman@programming.dev 3 points 1 year ago

That’s right. It’s not up to Unity to decide the values of a charity.

[-] Arthur_Leywin@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I want their company to burn to the ground.

[-] theyoyomaster@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

I wonder if they consider the NRA? It would be weird to exclude 501C3s but not 501c4s and PP operates separately as both.

[-] Elliott@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

If I find out these are the people responsible for the removal of the 3.5 headphone jack, I'm devoting my life to dismantling this company. Like, how do they keep getting worse?

[-] FaceDeer@kbin.social 14 points 1 year ago

The CEO of Unity used to be the CEO of Electronic Arts, if that helps motivate you.

[-] LukeMedia@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Too greedy for EA!

[-] Elliott@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Sounds like a solid contributing member of society.

[-] DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 year ago

Yep. If this is true. Consider them #cancelled.

[-] chic_luke@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Unity was "cancelled" the very second they introduced this fee. Nobody wants or will ever want to publish their game in Unity anymore. Studios planning to develop a game in Unity have already decided on moving to Unreal as we speak.

Unity is now irrelevant, and a product to recommend against. Unity is legacy software to abandon. If this doesn't mean it's cancelled I don't know what does.

[-] Pratai@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago

This is a very easy fix. Just don’t support them.

Done.

[-] dack@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

That's much easier said than done. For game developers that already have games based on unity released or in development, changing to another engine is an expensive and time consuming development effort.

[-] thantik@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

What skin does some game developer in Denmark have in American politics anyhow? Like, I get the backlash here -- but what an odd source...

[-] FaceDeer@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago

People in America contribute to charities that do work trying to improve the lives of the destitute and oppressed in other countries all the time, what's weird about someone in Europe trying to help the destitute and oppressed of America?

this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023

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