{"id":835,"date":"2024-10-01T17:54:30","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T17:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simonfokt.org\/?p=835"},"modified":"2024-10-07T13:28:43","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T13:28:43","slug":"godot-and-toxic-wokeness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simonfokt.org\/index.php\/2024\/10\/01\/godot-and-toxic-wokeness\/","title":{"rendered":"Godot, Toxic Wokeness, and What Sensible Progressives Should Do About\u00a0It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m not really deep in the gaming community but I\u2019ve been following it a bit more closely since it became a violent culture war battlefield. When a good friend drew my attention to the recent Godot controversy saying I can expect some toxic wokeness there, I had to look at it. It is a great case study on handling extremism\u200a\u2014\u200aon both sides.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unnecessary storm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A week ago, some random dude from Warsaw, Poland, posted a reply to a tweet in which an indie game developer shared footage of their upcoming game built using Unreal Engine 5. The reply was, to put it mildly, daft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Oh no, somebody on the internet is wrong! Quick, call the cavalry!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or you could, you know, just live your life and ignore stupid people. I think that there is one correct way to respond to this kind of comment: not at all. Particularly since to put it mildly, this person is a random nobody:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But three days later, Godot, a popular open-source game engine, decided to do otherwise:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the face of it, this could have been just an attempt to turn this into a publicity stunt. Anything to get your brand name out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it seems that in this case, it was not. The Community Manager who manages Godot\u2019s account was quickly identified and it seems like they are in fact a rather woke person who genuinely wanted to turn this into an opportunity for LGBTQ+ visibility. Oh, bless\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Honestly, I\u2019m not sure what to think about this. I\u2019m a bit on the fence when it comes to whether businesses should engage in politics and social issues. It\u2019s usually distasteful and dishonest, but it can be done right and have a positive effect. In this case, it seems like a genuine expression of what at least Nat thinks, so at least there\u2019s that. Whether it represents all of Godot is another question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a whole discussion about this on X, but it\u2019s not what I want to focus on. The question isn\u2019t whether Godot or particular people in it should have taken a stance here, it\u2019s how they\u2019ve done it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woke na\u00efvet\u00e9<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mostly, I just think that posting this was hopelessly na\u00efve. Because obviously, this tweet has turned into a massive flame war with a lot of shit and hate poured on Godot, and a fair bit of shit and hate poured in retaliation. Basically, it was a microcosm of what social media is all about maximising engagement through fanning anger and hate. Elon Musk is the winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, why was posting this na\u00efve? If you don\u2019t know, the gaming industry is experiencing quite a wave of cultural backlash. Ubisoft, a huge studio, is in a middle of a shitstorm<\/a> over \u2018diversity gone wild,\u2019 there are loads of anti-woke conspiracy theories floating about\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mean, what exactly were you thinking when posting this, Nat? That all you\u2019ll get is replies from Indy dev studios singing kumbaya together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You broke the first rule of the internet\u200a\u2014\u200adon\u2019t feed the trolls! Haters thrive on conflict. You gave them what they want. How is anyone surprised how this developed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But so far, I would say all this was just dumb and na\u00efve. Whatever, walk on and don\u2019t get pulled into stupid discussions, is my take on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was what happened next that was the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The banning\u00a0spree – is that toxic wokeness?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Nat (or whoever was managing the Godot account at this point\u200a\u2014\u200alet\u2019s call them Nat*) started banning people who posted negative comments on this tweet. In fact, it looks like people got banned for anything less than unconditional support. Godot\u2019s own supporters got banned. It really got out of hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Godot community manager is so out of control that they are blocking people who simply post the Godot creators words.

They are lashing out blindly, blocking on whim in a rage, not realizing their creators own quotes or, on another case, blocking titanium level funding\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/PHTPJK5iM7<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/BCm5JV6wS9<\/a><\/p>— Grummz (@Grummz) September 29, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>