Unity employees are worried that they may be working on military projects. The reason for this is the opaque policy of the company

It’s no secret that the Unity engine is used not only in video games — car brands, architects, military and many others also work with it. However, it turned out that Unity Technologies is in no hurry to tell employees which projects their work will be part of. Developers are afraid that developments can be taken without their knowledge to fulfill military orders.

This was reported by the Vice portal, which talked with three Unity employees.

According to the employees, military projects in the company usually fall into a category called GovTech. But the description of this category only indirectly hints at a possible connection with the army: “GovTech is designed to create technologies that help the government adapt AI and machine learning to their needs.”

In addition, Unity has compiled an explanatory note for managers who work with GovTech. She asked not to use the word “military”, but to replace it with “defense” or “government”.

Another important nuance is that Unity often attracts employees from different departments to fulfill military contracts. Employees can request additional information about the details of the project from managers, but this process is very confusing, and the answers received are vague.

According to one of the employees, he was once assigned to make a “randomization scheme for a government simulation project.” But then he found out that in fact his technology was used to simulate the explosion of debris on runways.

Another employee noted that developers can engage in artificial intelligence for video games, not knowing that their developments will then be used in military projects.

Unity did not ignore Vice’s publication. The company’s CEO John Riccitiello wrote a detailed comment on the topic in the corporate messenger Slack. He stated that Unity has been cooperating with the US armed forces for a long time. Both the company’s partners and employees know about this. At the same time, Unity does not take orders that do not correspond to its values. For example, those that harm nature and human rights, as well as lead to the death of people.

Riccitello stressed that the company employs over 4.6 thousand people. He understands that they may have different attitudes towards military partnerships, and Unity respects their point of view.

Riccitello’s response caused a negative reaction from employees. Most of them only learned from the statement that the company generally works with the military. They didn’t like it. As a result, the head of Unity promised to hold a meeting on this issue on August 24.

Note that Unity is not the only engine that is used, including for military purposes. CryEngine is used in a similar way, the creators of which cooperate with the armies of the USA and Germany.