I understand that there are failsafes in place to protect against the conflict of interests, but it doesn't mean the conflict of interests isn't there, otoh it's extremely blatant. I am almost certain that it will affect things. I trust the devs mean well, but the incentives here are directly aligned for things to get ugly at some point.
Absolutely, since venture capital can potentially steer the current engine developers (with money) towards a direction that isn’t aligned to FOSS or indie game development. I hope that they can withstand any pressure from investors if it has potential to damage the integrity of the project. (They have already gotten donations/sponsors from some online casinos and shady blockchain/metaverse companies before, although I think it was with minimal strings attached.)
Since Godot is MIT other devs can always fork the engine and start developing from there if this ever happens, but the expertise from the original devs would still be lost.
Yes I am a bit more optimistic than the original commentor on the issue, but I have to agree that it's clear outside pressure is appearing. I don't necessarily mean W4, I can see the need for a company to serve the commercial interests of the community and I think this is a good way to do it. Perhaps W4 might even shield Godot from some of the negative incentives of influential donors.
