Multiple Devs Drop Oculus Support After Palmer Luckey’s Support for Donald Trump

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 23, 2016 | 3 comments
Sohrab Osati

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One of the best parts about the tech and gaming industry is how inclusive it can be. Don’t get me wrong, things aren’t perfect, especially for women, but as a whole and compared to other industries, it’s quite a bit ahead. From people who work at different studios to the journalists that cover them, I’m surrounded by friends and colleagues who are black, gay, Muslim, transgender, American, bi, Middle-Eastern, and the list goes on and yet none of it matters because they all share a similar passion – technology. To that end, you can be as different as you want but as long as you show up with your A game, that’s all that matters.

Unfortunately in the US, in the past two decades, our society has shifted – we’re paranoid of Muslims, we’re fearful of blacks, we deny science, and have no appetite for inclusiveness of people who might love differently that we do. This hate has been slowly smoldering but was never too apparent, always in the wings – until Donald Trump. What Trump has done in the US is to normalize hate and bigotry, something that I would argue is seen less in my industry – after all, the tech culture is about pushing forward and bringing people together in ways not possible before.

With that as the back drop, you can see why we were all a bit surprised when it was revealed that Oculus founder, Palmer Luckey, was secretly funding a pro-Trump political group. And don’t worry, there is a PlayStation twist in here. Colin Campbell writing for Polygon:

 In a report tonight on The Daily Beast, 24-year-old Luckey is revealed as a financial backer for Nimble America, an organization that promotes Trump in the forthcoming presidential election through online and real-world advertising and viral posts. Nimble America’s front page features a story about rapists operating in “criminal gangs” along the Mexico border, echoing some of Trump’s most controversial claims.

Its founders and vice presidents are listed on the group’s website under pseudonyms, including “NimbleRichMan,” Luckey’s alter ego, according to The Daily Beast. He is described as “a near billionaire and staunch supporter of the Common Sense Conservative movement.” One-time Twitter harasser and right-wing extremist Milo Yiannopoulos is named as a “silent partner.” 

When confronted about it:

 Luckey confirmed to The Daily Beast that he is NimbleRichMan adding: “I’ve got plenty of money. Money is not my issue. I thought it sounded like a real jolly good time.” Luckey invented the Oculus Rift before selling his company to Facebook for $2 billion. Last year, Forbes estimated his net worth at $700 million.” 

I don’t want bog you down too much with the Western politics of it but it’s quite unfortunate when a prominent member of a community that’s all about forward thinking is clearly aligned and shares similar views with a piece of shit person of the past like Donald Trump. Luckily, the gaming community has been quick to react.

Fez devs in regards to their PlayStation VR title Superhypercube:

 You may have seen the news yesterday that ties Oculus Founder Palmer Luckey to Nimble America, a Trump-endorsing organization Luckey started to defame Clinton via “the power of Internet memes”.

In a political climate as fragile and horrifying as this one, we cannot tacitly endorse these actions by supporting Luckey or his platform.

In light of this, we will not be pursuing Oculus support for our upcoming VR release, SUPERHYPERCUBE.

If you are a voting citizen of the United States, please remember to register and make your voice heard this November 8th. Do not let bigotry, white supremacy, hate and fear win.
Kokoromi & Polytron 

Mat Paget from GameSpot has an ongoing piece as the fallout from Luckey’s comments continue to unfold:

 Palmer Luckey’s behavior is unacceptable,” Tomorrow Today Labs told GameSpot. “This is the opposite of promoting inclusion in our industry, and the absolute worst way to lead by example. Oculus SDK support for NewtonVR has been shelved, and any VR tools or games we release in the future will not support Oculus products as long as Palmer Luckey is employed at Facebook/Oculus.” 

Differing politics is one to be cherished and readers of the site know that I regularly partake in debates in our comments section and on Twitter/Facebook, etc. that have differing opinions from my own. In the case of Trump and the majority of his supporters though, unfortunately what they believe in has little to do with facts and differing opinions and more to do with pure hate and bigotry and that’s not something that should be tolerated so it’s good to see those with the means of doing so, outright rejecting Trump and his supporters.

Update:

Add Insomniac Games to the list of VR devs condemning Palmer:

 Insomniac Games condemns all forms of hate speech. While everyone has a right to express his or her political opinion, the behavior and sentiments reported do not reflect the values of our company. We are also confident that this behavior and sentiment does not reflect the values of the many Oculus employees we work with on a daily basis.