Godot ‘woke’ controversy explained

Godot, a popular open-source game engine, is under fire following a controversial online post and accusations of censorship.

The controversy began on September 24, when an indie developer shared footage of their upcoming game 'Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori', built using Unreal Engine 5. This prompted user @kryztofcheski to comment on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that "woke studios" use pre-built engines because they cannot build their own.

On September 27, Godot’s official X account responded with a sarcastic post, encouraging indie developers to showcase their "woke" games built using Godot. The post quickly went viral, garnering over 1.7 million views and sparking mixed reactions.

The controversy deepened when reports emerged that users who criticized the post were banned from unofficial Godot-related Discord channels by moderator Xananax.

Allegations of Xananax’s past use of racial slurs further intensified the backlash.

In response, the Godot Foundation released a statement distancing itself from Xananax.

However, users on X accused the platform of avoiding accountability by locking replies to their official statement and claiming the Discord server was unofficial, despite it allegedly being prominently featured on their website.

Additionally, users expressed concerns that Godot was attempting to dox them by requiring Gmail addresses when applying for unblocking.

The situation worsened when several long-term supporters were also blocked on GitHub, leading to further alienation among backers who had donated significantly to the platform.

While the Godot Foundation has promised to review its moderation process and correct any errors, criticism over its handling of the situation and its treatment of supporters continues.