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submitted 1 year ago by Gork@lemm.ee to c/games@lemmy.world

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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[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 124 points 1 year ago

"not valid charities" and are instead "political groups."

Only the Insane Christian right fanatics would call Planned Parenthood a political group!

Insane is the new normal in right wing America.

[-] Edgelord_Of_Tomorrow@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago

Starting to sympathize with the employee who made the death threats

[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.one 12 points 1 year ago

Which is why I'm calling them the rabid right from now on.

[-] Jaysyn@kbin.social 61 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.

[-] Chariotwheel@kbin.social 27 points 1 year ago

Gotta love how they really tried to check every argument against the engine.

Financially, trustwise, politically. Next would be sexual harassment in the office then.

[-] xkforce@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago

It is virtually certain that there is sexual harassment going on.

[-] Edgelord_Of_Tomorrow@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

"Planned Parenthood is political" = "I own women's bodies"

[-] Chariotwheel@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

Great, what else then? Child labour?

[-] sebinspace@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Hey, those Asian kids learn C# before they even learn to speak, they don’t fuck around.

[-] r00ty@kbin.life 8 points 1 year ago

Unity: Hold my beer.

[-] Poggervania@kbin.social 52 points 1 year ago

Obligatory plug for Godot if you want a FOSS game engine

[-] Serinus@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 year ago

I'm excited for the push this is gonna give Godot. Wouldn't mind it becoming the mainstream engine.

[-] eltimablo@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

There's also O3DE, though I don't know what kind of state it's in.

[-] IntergalacticTowel@lemmy.sdf.org 34 points 1 year ago

Some alternatives to Unity with:

  • Godot - GDScript, C#, 2D/3D
  • Defold - Lua, 2D/3D
  • Stride - C#, 2D/3D
  • Bevy - Rust, 2D/3D
  • Armory 3D - Haxe, C, C++, Rust, WebAssembly, JavaScript, Logic-Nodes, 3D
  • O3DE - Lua, Script Canvas, 3D
  • Flax Engine - C#, C++, Visual Scripting, 3D

And Unreal, of course, if you trust big corps.

[-] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

MonoGame is pretty good too, if you're feeling ambitious and really like working in low level code.

[-] Serdan@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

Some of the best indie games were made in MonoGame.

https://www.monogame.net/showcase/

[-] Computerchairgeneral@kbin.social 31 points 1 year ago

Unity really just keeps stepping on rakes right now huh? Can't wait to see how they manage to make this situation even worse before it's over.

[-] obinice@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago

Unity being run by those mental Christian Fundamentalist Americans now?

[-] bappity@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

I've got to say, seeing all these big companies with shit management making shit decisions this year has been great.

[-] CaptObvious@literature.cafe 16 points 1 year ago

Unity simply cannot stop shooting themselves in the foot, can they? Bless their hearts. (I'm a Southerner.)

[-] Comment105@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I've heard people correct this as "Unity didn't shoot themselves in the foot, they shot themselves in the chest."

And I agree, they didn't just fuck up and get badly hurt. They're dead. On life support if they're lucky.

Nobody sane will trust this company with their work now.

[-] CaptObvious@literature.cafe 3 points 1 year ago

Agreed on all counts.

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

I don't care what anyone else says, I think they are a standup company, in their own way. (also a southerner)

[-] CaptObvious@literature.cafe 1 points 1 year ago

Unity? Or Planned Parenthood?

[-] orrk@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Unity of course, planned parenthood actually does decent work.

[-] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Who is Unity to decide what a charity is? National governments already categorize them.

[-] Chariotwheel@kbin.social -4 points 1 year ago

Unity the Right something something

this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
363 points (96.2% liked)

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