this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/5555641

archive.org

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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[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 189 points 2 years ago (5 children)

“Charity” should be a question answered by “do they have a registered charity number?”

What’s considered a charity will differ country by country.

[–] Mateoto@lemmy.world 84 points 2 years ago

Only valid answer. If there's a valid document stating charity status, no other discussion is needed.

[–] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 42 points 2 years ago

That would require them to care enough to figure out how to verify if something is a registered charity and what they are called in each country. Some countries don't even have the concept of registered charity in any form.

[–] HughJanus@lemmy.ml 20 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Planned Parenthood is a US institution, and a registered 501c3 non-profit charity, as defined by the IRS.

Though I can't blame anyone for not wanting to dip their toes into the absolute shitstorm that is modern partisan politics in the US.

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[–] RickyRigatoni@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 years ago

Coincidentally if Unity stays course and gets sued this will be what the courts say, too.

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[–] lobut@lemmy.ca 134 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

Right wing groups in the US made Planned Parenthood a political issue. It doesn't make it a political organization.

I feel sorry for Unity because I want them to be profitable and all that. However, they have a greedy prick for a CEO and one of the dumbest change rollouts I've seen (Twitter has been crazy bad lately too) at this scale. It wipes away any empathy for them and makes you yearn for their collapse.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 16 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I feel sorry for the employees, but ultimately the company chose the CEO it's not like he turned up and forced himself on them or anything. They were really pleased when they announced him as well, as if he was going to be some kind of asset.

It's the investors fault for having no business savvy. Sod em.

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[–] Jaysyn@kbin.social 115 points 2 years ago (4 children)

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

[–] OrkneyKomodo@lemmy.sdf.org 30 points 2 years ago

Yup. I'm not either.

[–] massive_bereavement@kbin.social 23 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

This (Unity change not your statement) will be a shank at the back of most indie devs.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 12 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Right--the AAA studios will just consider if they should use Unreal or an in-house engine. They'll put it all in a big spreadsheet and come to a conclusion.

Indie devs that are on Unity are going to get hurt by this scheme. They'll also get hurt if you don't buy their games because they're in Unity. The choices here aren't great.

The one thing is Unreal seems to have been preferred for a while now, anyway. Unity was already losing market share, and is now only going to accelerate that.

[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 18 points 2 years ago

If you’re doing 2D, some devs have been actively documenting the migration from Unity to Godot to make things easier for others to follow suit.

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[–] HughJanus@lemmy.ml 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The list of games I can't buy is too damn long. Like anything else in the modern age you're forced to support unethical business practices or withdraw from the industry altogether (if you even can).

Can buy games from EA or Activision/Blizzard/Microsoft/Xbox or Ubisoft, or anything made with Unity, or anything with Denuvo, or anything with anti-cheat, or anything that's online-only. Did I leave anything out?

Steam Deck + boring indie games is what we're left with until gamers get together and collectively stop supporting the atrocity that is modern gaming.

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[–] Ertebolle@kbin.social 81 points 2 years ago (4 children)

So we're currently at the 'apology that actually makes things worse' phase, which means just a few more days until 'unconditional surrender but even so nobody will ever trust you again'

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[–] northendtrooper@lemmy.ca 69 points 2 years ago

This is their downfall hiring that CEO and the leadership should be ashamed. I feel sorry for the employees who had no say in this and are being affected by their myopic choices.

[–] JokeDeity@lemm.ee 61 points 2 years ago

Well as if it wasn't already obvious they were headed by conservatives...

[–] Lojcs@lemm.ee 47 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Starting to think unity doesn't have a pr team

[–] drwho@beehaw.org 24 points 2 years ago

I think this is their PR team.

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[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 44 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It's like he heard that there was no such thing as bad publicity and took that is literally as he possibly could

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 30 points 2 years ago (1 children)

He worked for EA. He has no idea how the industry works.

[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Didn't EA during a partnership with Nintendo, suggest to them crippling Mario's Jump Height in order to sell "High Jump Boots" as DLC?

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[–] Vlhacs@reddthat.com 42 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Calling PP a political org is too obtuse a message to view this response as a simple mistake or miscommunication. Unity is apparently run by conservative hacks and I hope they collapse.

[–] KillAllPoorPeople@lemmy.world 16 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

This isn't generic conservatism. Many Americans, who are conservative, support abortion rights. Unity seems to be in bed with far right political Christianity.

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[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 39 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Unity is working on hanging itself

[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 16 points 2 years ago

Bankruptcy any%

[–] FISHNETS@lemmy.blahaj.zone 34 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I can understand Planned Parenthood maybe, heavily disagree, but whatever.

But a children's hospital? How could that ever be classed as a "political group"?

What a joke.

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[–] Hiccup@lemmy.dbzer0.com 34 points 2 years ago (2 children)

The unity CEO is an arsonist as he's set ablaze the whole company. Guy should be investigated for fraud and malfeasance.

[–] kameecoding@lemmy.world 18 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

he is challenging Elon Musk to a fuck (up) off. who can burn a company to the ground faster.

I think the Unity CEO is winning, but hard to tell, because next to Twitter, Musk is also fucking with Tesla and SpaceX

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[–] ulkesh@beehaw.org 12 points 2 years ago

And yet when he is inevitably asked to resign, after years of this shit-show, he’ll get yet another golden parachute. Stupidity fails upwards in the United States. And half of this country applaud it.

[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 28 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

By responding with judgment (e.g. your charitable donations are invalid ) Unity is showing how other devs can expect to be treated when they try to negotiate with Unity on a case-by-case basis.

This shows Unity is looking for bad faith reasons by which to justify rejecting exceptions to the fees. It's a bad idea to expect exception to the new fees, even in the face of bankruptcy.

[–] cobra89@beehaw.org 23 points 2 years ago

Lol could Unity have bungled this any harder??

[–] OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world 22 points 2 years ago

Well I’m not going to buy any more Unity games, and I’m going to uninstall any Unity games I have. Fuck those guys.

[–] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 20 points 2 years ago (1 children)
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[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 19 points 2 years ago (3 children)

But they don’t want to cure cancer - they want to turn people into dinosaurs!

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[–] Thann@lemmy.ml 16 points 2 years ago (10 children)

Idk why anyone trusts peddlers of proprietary bullshit

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[–] NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world 15 points 2 years ago

As if I needed another reason not to use Unity.

[–] moosetwin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (5 children)

planned parenthood is political yadda yadda yadda, but a children's hospital?

[–] hypelightfly@kbin.social 30 points 2 years ago (2 children)

It's a registered 501c3. Whatever anybody's opinions, it's a legal charity.

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[–] Thann@lemmy.ml 28 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Planned parenthood shouldn't be political. In a few years drinking water well be seen as a policial statement against brawndo

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[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 17 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Seriously. I could see some right-wing shithead complaining about "evil" abortions, but who doesn't wanna save the lives of post-pregnancy children? Oh, that's right. Right-wing shitheads. As always.

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[–] heimchen@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

There are no child hospitals in the Bible 😡😡😡/s

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[–] 3TH4Li4@feddit.ch 11 points 2 years ago

Aight, hope they're ready to lay in their grave now. It's over.

[–] phillaholic@lemm.ee 11 points 2 years ago

I can’t speak for the EU, but in the US charities are federally recognized and there are tax deductions available for donating to them. This being said, it depends on what specific “Planned Parenthood” you donate to.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) works to support health care providers at Planned Parenthood health centers across the country, educate the public on issues of reproductive and sexual health, and advocate for policy to expand access to health care. PPFA is a 501(c)(3) organization, and donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable under the law.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF) is the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood, fighting to advance and expand access to sexual health care and defend reproductive rights. PPAF is a 501(c)(4) organization, and donations are not tax-deductible as a charitable contribution or business expense.

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