this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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Unity reportedly told dev Planned Parenthood and children's hospital are "not valid charities" (www.gamesindustry.biz)
submitted 2 years ago by ram@lemmy.ca to c/technology@lemmy.world
40 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

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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[–] flux@lemmy.world 85 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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 73 points 2 years 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.

[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 65 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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.

[–] tony@lemmy.hoyle.me.uk 51 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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 24 points 2 years ago

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

[–] exohuman@programming.dev 31 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

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

[–] TheLordHumungus@lemmy.world 43 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Fuck children let em die! - unity devs

[–] ripcord@kbin.social 20 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That does seem to be the conservative way.

[–] Lightrider@lemmynsfw.com 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Fucking children and letting them die is exactly the republican platform. Gaetz, Jordan, Trump etc...

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

But children are future gamers...

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 2 points 2 years ago

Fuck the future, PROFITZ NAO!! - every high executive and CEO nowadays

[–] MrSnowy@lemmy.ml 17 points 2 years ago

All my homies hate children. - unity devs

[–] LiveLGNProsper@lemmy.world 28 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I have a feeling the will say this about all charity’s so the can get more money.

[–] Sharpiemarker@feddit.de 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I have a feeling ~~the~~ they will say this about all ~~charity's~~ charities so ~~the~~ they can get more money.

[–] LiveLGNProsper@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I didn’t notice lol ios17 new auto correct supposed to be better but I say it’s worse.

[–] Sharpiemarker@feddit.de 2 points 2 years ago

Lol no worries

[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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

[–] exohuman@programming.dev 2 points 2 years ago

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

[–] Arthur_Leywin@lemmy.world 23 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I want their company to burn to the ground.

[–] theyoyomaster@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years 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 2 years 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?

[–] DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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

[–] chic_luke@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years 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 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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

Done.

[–] dack@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years 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.

[–] Lightrider@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 2 years ago

Fuckingcapitalists

[–] thantik@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years 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...