Recruiting

Ex-moderator of Godot’s Discord server talks about her first interaction with Godot community¹:

I was streaming regularly on Twitch then, about 6+ hours/day building my game. I hadn’t yet joined the Godot community, and Godot’s 3D was seemingly fine for the initial stages of my project. Everything was going grand…

Then one day, as I was streaming on Twitch. The original admin of the Godot Discord found my Godot stream… and they did an at-everyone on the Godot server and my Twitch channel was flooded with hundreds of Godot users pouring in…

The above words perfectly describes how cults operate. Godot followers spend a lot of time and effort seeking for new users all over the Internet so they could try to get new people to use Godot. Some even describe this behavior as the one of Jehova Witnesses of game engines if you look at threads such as “About Godot and haters”²! Additionally, the title itself also shows us-vs-them mentality, manifesting as fanboyism.

The developer community of Godot shows this kind of preoccupation as well. For instance, you’ll find dedicated channels such as #new-contributors at Godot Contributors Chat, and Godot’s documentation is quite elaborate when it comes to contributing to Godot’s development specifically, contrary to Development Philosophy, which does not exist in Godot.

Even when Godot receives donations and funds, Godot leadership will never hire independent professionals to work on Godot. Here’s what Juan says³:

… the problem is that hiring someone who has not contributed to the project or has no experience on a given area is always a risk because they may not be able to perform as expected and/or may need assistance from other contributors, taking away their time instead.

Developers with solid experience rarely if ever need an assistance from other contributors, what they really need is good documentation. Even if we follow Juan’s perverted logic, new contributors also take away time from experienced contributors, who are volunteers. What Juan’s words mean in reality is that Godot leadership won’t allow an outsider to work in Godot, because allowing outsiders with great experience to work on Godot poses a risk of exposing Godot’s inner cult mechanisms, so leadership needs to draw “red lines” for gatekeeping purposes.

In a video titled “Godot Documentary - Some Faces Behind the Godot Engine,” in a chapter titled “A Different Way of Working” ⁴, Juan mentioned something similar to the previous quote. However, let’s shift our attention to address other complementary points, [emphasis added]:

… many people in the community say why don’t you do bounties, you put a bounty to make a feature then you select the person that you think that’s going to make it and then you pay that person. But in reality it doesn’t work like that. The problem is that if you have somebody that you pay to work, that person may need help because if you want them to do things the way you believe are the best for the project, like write the code in a certain way, doing it efficiently using everything properly, you need to spend a lot of time helping the people do what they need to do instead of working on what you have to do as you can hear this is a very different operation to what you might expect from a project of this size there are other open source projects that are dealing with the challenges that Godot is [facing] but I don’t think there are many at this scale yet so there’s still a lot to explore.

The very phrase “many people in the community” implies an inconsistency between the actions of Godot leaders and the actual preferences of the Godot community regarding the allocation of funds, particularly the money that Juan has continuously begged the community to donate.
The general phrase “in reality it doesn’t work like that” makes Juan’s position on this topic seem superior or knowledgeable, completely ignoring the experience of other open-source projects that happily utilize the bounty system, like Stride does.
The phrase “doing it efficiently” implies prioritization of performance, but if you refer to Priorities, Godot doesn’t really care about Performance. Phrases like “if you want them to do things the way you believe are the best for the project” imply a lack of trust in competence of developers who would be willing to work on a specific area in Godot. Frankly, such rationalizations by Juan imply an attitude of a control freak!
The phrases “this is a very different operation to what you might expect from a project of this size” and “there’s still a lot to explore” suggest that Godot is unique and requires different management approach. Indeed, cults do require a peculiar approach not typically seen in other healthy communities, and obviously, Juan will never reveal those unethical practices.

On top of everything mentioned earlier, Godot, the magnificent open-source wonder, enjoys the perks of scholarship programs like Google Summer of Code⁵. This program allows students to toil away on features and bug fixes (with Godot, the emphasis is on the features, of course). It’s a marvelous blend that coincides with the bounty system, albeit indirectly, because, you see, it’s good ol’ Google who graciously provides the stipends. These stipends are like a magical fixed sum of money handed out to those brilliant souls who successfully complete a coding project for free and open-source software during the summer. And guess what? Godot, being the cool kid on the block, attracts hoards of such students without Juan even having to dip his hand into his own pocket. How do you like that? 🙃

Dedicating time to assist students, who may often lack the necessary experience to work on features, is not perceived as a hindrance, whereas hiring professional developers would undoubtedly consume the valuable time of contributors, according to Juan. Do you notice a contradiction here? We can conclude that Juan surely aims to target the younger generation of developers instead⁶:

An interesting phenomena I see is that, among the younger generations ( <25 ), most pick Godot because It’s just far simpler to learn and understand than other software. I think this is quite curious..

Godot: editor screenshot featuring Godette

Notice how Juan uses Godette character that we covered in the previous Love Bombing section. Also, Juan hasn’t provided any factual data to confirm his claim that most people under 25 years old pick Godot. He then continues to explain why, despite the industry’s preference for using modern technology and techniques, Godot is one of the biggest FOSS projects in the entire ~~galaxy~~ world, [emphasis added]:

Godot uses simple C++ as it was used in early 2000s, standard OOP, simple data models, a very traditional scripting language, traditional concepts such as scene graph, retained mode UI with a late 90s design, a retro editor experience reminiscent of Visual Basic..

And stuff such as ECS nowhere to be seen, preferring to use more traditional hand crafted data oriented code for optimization.

As Grug would say, all things that nowadays big brained developers consider dated and wrong..

Yet, here we are, against all odds, fastest growing piece of game technology and one of the 10 biggest FOSS projects in the world..

To believe that preferring traditional, and even retro techniques would lead to unprecedented success would be naive. Therefore, this “secret sauce” of success must be something else… What could it be?! An interesting fact: the phrase “fastest growing” is commonly associated with religions or cults as well. 😉

Juan mentions Grug⁷, referring to “The Grug Brained Developer” which Juan is likely fond of. The article could be seen as a collection of software design principles aimed to reduce complexity, with a particular humorous “Grug” style, “grug brain developer not so smart,” as its written in the introduction. As you recall, Juan said Godot has no development philosophy. Yet, “against all odds,” Juan manages to promote Godot for it to become popular enough among the younger generation, who view it as a sign of success and adoption in the game development industry, and they choose to believe the inflated authority of Juan, a “guru” of game development.

Studies on cults suggest that cult leaders target younger individuals, as they are more susceptible to cult indoctrination. In particular, the simplicity that Juan aims to offer provides a sense of relief from analysis paralysis. Quote from one article titled “The Appeal of Cults to Teens” confirms this⁸, [emphasis added]:

Today’s society can be described as a tyranny of options with multitudes of opportunities. Young people are faced with overwhelming possibilities for their future, which often results in choice paralysis.

Throughout the ages, we can see a clear pattern that demonstrates how cults flourish at times of existential questioning and uncertainty. Our globalized, digitally connected culture offers numerous options for work, hobbies, sexuality, relationships, diet, aesthetics, and spirituality. Our society also places immense importance on the notion of self and creating a personal brand.

Therefore, a charismatic cult leader can be an attractive proposition, as such a person narrows the playing field considerably and helps people make decisions. Dr. Adrian Furnham states that humans crave clarity and find solace in the absolute answers a cult can offer. The clear, unwavering messages of a cult leader offer a simplicity that is nearly impossible to find in everyday life.

If you read the book carefully, Juan mentions concepts like clarity, simplicity, and ease-of-use a lot. Just think about it, Juan has an undue influence over a big portion of younger developers that experience the choice paralysis. They are full of potential, and Juan definitely exploits their enthusiasm (ignited by Juan’s grandiose claims) to further promote Godot and most importantly, attract corporate sponsors that way.

Speaking of ethics, Juan asks the public whether it makes sense to provide official certification of Godot contributors⁹, [emphasis added]:

Question to you all, given there is an increase in companies wanting to do Godot hires (and many times they ask us and we don’t really have a place where to officially post), what would you recommend us to do? Use existing sites, create a job board, etc?

Additionally, companies may be looking for some sort of proof of experience. I think for a lot, linking to your projects on Steam/Play/itch/GitHub/etc is enough. So, would it make sense for us (or third parties) to also offer some sort of “official” certification?

Allowing this “idea” to create a job board and provide official certification of contributors to appear in the first place goes against the fundamental notion of Godot being developed by volunteers and being allegedly independent of the influence of corporations! Juan’s question could also be seen as having a primarily propagandist purpose, as he poses a loaded question assuming something that may not be true, such as “an increase in companies wanting to do Godot hires” in this case.

Conclusion

We have highlighted several contradictions and questionable practices within the Godot community and its leadership. The first interaction described by the ex-moderator reflects a cultish behavior, with followers actively seeking new users. The focus on new contributors and the lack of emphasis on development philosophy raise concerns about the community’s priorities.

The reluctance to hire professionals and the emphasis on relying on volunteers may hinder the growth and development of Godot. The reasoning provided by Juan, the lead developer, is questioned, as experienced developers often require good documentation rather than assistance from other contributors.

Dismissing alternative approaches like bounties adds to the perception of a management style that may not align with industry standards. Additionally, the suggestion of creating a job board and offering official certification of contributors is inconsistent to the claims of Godot as an independent, volunteer-driven project. It raises concerns about potential exploitation of volunteers and the influence of corporations in the community.

Because of this cult, people tend to end up spending their lives promoting Godot and working on Godot for free, not necessarily working on game projects made with Godot. You may find yourself contributing to the engine rather than working on the actual game, and slowly abandon the development of your own project. It’s fine to help others, but not at expense of your own goals, unless helping others is the ultimate goal in your life. However, when we talk about cults like Godot, the process of helping others becomes a slippery slope, and this help rather promotes the hidden agenda of cult leaders.