this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2025
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That being said, they patented it and it's not open source because they have a clause that let's them block you from using it if they don't like you.
Patents in videogames are overall gross imo.
From what I remember, they even patented the little ping selection wheel you find in Apex. EA is shit.
The language on their patent info page doesn't say that:
They seem to be claiming that they are legally bound to allow usage of these patents unless YOU try to patent them or sue them for infringing on your patent.
I'm not a patent lawyer, though, so if you are or I'm missing a different piece of info I'm all ears.
"You can use it as long as you don't sue us" isn't very open source. Although I was exaggerating when I said they can refuse access for anyone they don't like.
The things they patented are also seriously simple. One of them is for changing UI color, they should have never been given them in the first place.
It's better to assume the worst when dealing with EA.
No, that is "you can use it unless you specifically sue us for infringing on the patent we're releasing", as I read it. I don't know how necessary it is to protect yourself from somebody taking the patent you've released freely, patenting them themselves and then suing you back, but that seems to be what they're protecting against.
This entire thread is about how assuming the worst when it comes to EA is often not giving them credit for a number of actually cool stuff they do. This included, in my book. I don't think that "oh, sure this someone is doing seems fine, but don't trust them anyway" is a particularly good way to handle... well, pretty much anything. You don't need to fanboy for corporations, but you also don't need to rage against them consistently. The whole idea is to reward them for good moves and punish them for bad ones.
This seems like a good move. More of this, as far as I'm concerned.
Ok, but it's simply not open source and patents aren't something that should be encouraged in the videogame industry. Patents are expensive (too expensive for the indie scene) and usually used to bully smaller players.
Not to mention they patented things that were already common. If they were altruistic, they would have just actually open sourced it and called it a day. They also have other patents of common things that they didn't add to the pledge, this "altruisme" is mostly just there to add weight to patents in the industry when it thoroughly didn't exist before EA and Warner Bros smelled blood in the water.
The wording from what I understand also means they can hit back for any kind of patent related litigation, not just for this one specifically. It's a threat. "Don't fuck with us and you can keep using this thing we made", but the thing they "made" has already existed for a decade or two and they certainly weren't the first. It's just bad vibes behavior imo.
I guess...? Were you planning to sue EA for patent infringement? Because it specifies that the exception applies to patent-based lawsuits.
I mean, "let's plant some patents for accessibility tech that we give away with a specific caveat and then turn the tables on someone who is trying to sue us for some unrelated patent infringement but may have used our accessibility patents before" is a hell of a long con.
Look, you're fixating on finding a caveat to this so you get to keep being angry with these guys and I'm here to free you from that burden. You get to keep being mad with them and still acknowledge that someone, somewhere in there did a mostly good thing for mostly good reasons. It's fine.
EA isn't a person. There's a ton of people there. Some seem quite nice. On a more general level, the entire risk of unbridled corporate dominance of public life is that it's perfectly possible for a company made entirely of very nice people to do some bad shit sometimes, or even most of the time. You don't need them to be an evil cabal to call them out when they do that. And you don't lose any face for acknowledging when they don't.
The caveat is literally that they patented ui color changes, as well as a bunch of other stuff without the pledge for those to boot.
You are asking me to trust them but that very behavior makes them untrustworthy. There is no need to wait and see what they do with it since since the base action is already bad.
They have a patent for a simple dialogue wheel which isn't under any pledges. There is no defending them imo.
I'm not asking you to "trust" anything, you can see what they did. It's out there. That's not how reality works, it's not based on "trust". Things either happen or they don't. You can look it up.
For the record, they did not patent "UI color changes", the list includes automated tech for checking for flashing lights, that automatic ping system you were talking about, stuff for touch controls and a bunch of other stuff. There's a list on the link. I'm not going to read through twenty-odd patents just to disprove some random piece of misinformation you blurted out. Plus, it's a sterile converation. They released the patents they released and it's better than not releasing them, so who cares. Good for them in any case.
Seriously, why try so hard? You're factually wrong about a bunch of what you're saying and all that's doing is making me defensive about clearing the record, which as a side effect gets me defending them. And it's cutting into your credibility whenever you have a REAL issue to complain about. It's just all the way counterproductive. I don't understand the compulsion to assume the people you dislike are consistently, one-dimensionally good or evil in all circumstances at the expense of demonstrable reality. How simplistic is people's moral compass that they can't parse the slightest ambiguity? It's bizarre.
You're going to give me attitude?
My whole comment was setting you straight that it was a patent, there is no code and it isn't open source at all.
I'm getting mixed on the detail because I went through their patents quite a while ago, but it doesn't change my points.
This isn't open source.
Patents are gross and don't belong in the industry.
They cannot be trusted because of the mountain of other patents not in the pledge (like the dialogue wheel which does exist, I just checked) and the mountain of other anti-consumer behavior that makes up their history. This is basically just posturing.
You ever ask yourself why you are trying so hard to defend them? Like ya, I assume they are the bad guys but a literal scratch on the surface shows that they still are in this case.
Hah. Holy crap, who goes "you're going to give me attitude?" in an online conversation? That's amazing. Are you going to tell me to meet you after class?
I am not defending them. It's not an "attack" and "defense" thing. They did a thing. The thing is cool. I noted that they often don't get credit when they do cool things because they are a very satisfying punching bag (ditto for Ubisoft, Activision and Microsoft in general, incidentally).
That's not a defense. It barely counts as backhanded compliment. It's just an acknowledgement that companies aren't people and they very rarely have a personality, so it's a bad idea to assign them one.
For the record, releasing a patent isn't open source, but they HAVE released code for some of these application as open source. And some C&C games, which is of course what the original post is about. Which is a distinction that is entirely irrelevant but you made me look it up anyway. Because, as I said, your willingness to sacrifice factuality for the sake of enforcing your antropomorphization of these guys as your archnemesis has the side effect of making me defensive about your claims. If that is attitude it's one I'm fine with having, here and behind the gym.
Hell, if you're going to pick an archnemesis at least make it a social media company. Those guys are doing actual damage. Game companies just aren't relevant enough to get riled up about.
You are misrepresented it, that's all.
I'm just informing you of what it really is and how it isn't as altruistic as it seems.
If you can't respond without being rude, you can just choose not to interact.
I didn't. I am not. It is what it is. It's not even that convoluted, they've listed this stuff. You've been factually wrong about a bunch of these things. Like, not even the "look it up" things, the list of things in the link you are reacting to. You're taking my pondering why people can't parse even the slightest ambiguity on their projections on brands and companies as a rude slight. Which is... increasingly on brand, I suppose.
Well, you are being quite belittling and passive agressive, I don't think my brand comes into it.
In any case, what you describe as cool open source tools are literally just a paragraph and some screenshot for the most part and only really benefit their legal team. This isn't anything praise worthy.
It seems we both have been factually wrong, except I'm the only one that has admitted to it and clarified my points to move the conversation. I also believe your overall message is wrong but on a deeper level.
Try pondering about what's being talked about. You also don't need to slip in a paragraph of your angst every comment.
No, there are actual pieces of software they've released alongside the patents. It's a thing. Look it up.
You can't really bothsides this, that's not how this works.
I guess on one thing you were right, which is that we can choose to not interact.
I only know of fonttik and iris but neither of those are in the patent pledge. Those were actually open sourced, so Im guessing there isnt much need for it, but everything since has gone through lawyers from what I know.
I'll admit though, I haven't read through all their patents. I'll be happy to be proved wrong.