The Machinery game engine cancelled as developers told to delete all source code

Developer Our Machinery has announced that it will be ending the development of its game engine, The Machinery.

According to an email sent to The Machinery‘s users, which was shared on Twitter on August 1, the development of the alternative game engine to Epic Games‘ Unreal Engine has stopped (via PC Gamer and GameDeveloper).

“Thanks so much for supporting The Machinery,” the email said. “Unfortunately, we’ve reached a point where it’s no longer possible for us to continue in the current direction… We really appreciated you being a part of the Our Machinery Community. We hope we have been helpful in some way to your development needs.”

No explanation has been revealed as to the sudden decision, but the email notes all licenses are to be terminated 14 days after the date of notice and requests developers and users alike to “delete your copies of The Machinery.”

What the hell just happened to @ourmachinery??? Looks like their Discord and website just got nuked, too! pic.twitter.com/fRS2ND1OBl

— Philpax ???? (@philpax_) August 1, 2022

Users were also informed they would receive refunds but must delete any source code or binaries they had in their possession. This requirement wasn’t in the original license agreement, according to Game World Observer, and when using the Wayback Machine it was confirmed that in May, there was no mention of deleting the source code in Section 14 of the EULA. Since May, the EULA has been update to say the opposite.

“Upon the termination of your license,” reads the current EULA, “you must immediately (a) cease all use of the Service and the Content, and (b) destroy any copies of the Service or Content in your possession, custody or control, including any related source code and/or binaries of the Service or the Content.”

In other news, the ruling of the Destiny 2 lawsuit filed against the player who was threatening  Bungie employees has revealed even more attacks. The ruling included details of racist and homophobic threats, as well as voicemails left for employees.