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A WordPress developer pleaded with Matt Mullenweg at WordCamp Asia 2025, asking him to restore Automattic’s contributions to the WordPress core. Mullenweg apologized and said it’s not up to him; it’s up to WP Engine to drop their lawsuit, and he encouraged the community to put pressure on WP Engine.
Complex Response To Question
Mullenweg did not outright reject the plea, but he also did not directly respond to the request. Instead, he shifted the focus to WP Engine’s lawsuit, implying that the responsibility lay with them.
He deflected responsibility, stating that Automattic’s contributions would resume only if WP Engine dropped its lawsuit. By making the decision entirely contingent on WP Engine’s actions, he effectively dismissed the request.
His response left no room for reconsideration or discussion of alternatives. The only path he presented was external pressure on WP Engine, effectively sidestepping any role Automattic might play in addressing the developer’s concerns.
While Mullenweg’s tone was not harsh, as he even ended his response with a smile, his answer functioned as a rejection. He did not offer an alternative, express openness to revisiting the decision, or acknowledge any path for Automattic to restore contributions independently of WP Engine’s actions.
Automattic’s Scaled-Back WordPress Contributions
Automattic announced in January 2025 that they were scaling back contributions to the WordPress core to those related to security and critical updates. Contributions that would otherwise had gone to core would be diverted to for-profit initiatives related to Automattic and WordPress.com.
Automattic attributed its January 2025 decision to WP Engine’s lawsuits:
“We’ve made the decision to reallocate resources due to the lawsuits from WP Engine. This legal action diverts significant time and energy that could otherwise be directed toward supporting WordPress’s growth and health. We remain hopeful that WP Engine will reconsider this legal attack, allowing us to refocus our efforts on contributions that benefit the broader WordPress ecosystem.”
WP Engine’s lawsuits, however, were a response to Matt Mullenweg’s WordCamp USA 2024 statements and also activities against WP Engine (like the WP Engine Tracker website) . A federal judge has since sided with WP Engine and granted its request for a preliminary injunction against Automattic and Mullenweg.
WordCamp Attendee Urges Mullenweg To Reinstate Core Contributions
A WordCamp Asia 2024 attendee stepped up during the Q&A portion of the conference and shared his concerns, as a business owner and a plugin developer, for the stagnation of WordPress core development.
He said:
“Hi Matt. So this is not about a question, but I am a bit concerned about like if I see that the last five years or even ten years Automattic is the biggest core contributor in the code base and everything. So it’s not actually biggest, maybe 60%, 70% of the commit… as a company, Automattic do that.
So you recently published in a blog post that you are pulling out all the contribution and everything. So as a developer, as a business owner, …my whole business depends on WordPress. We build WordPress plugins, I think if there is no Automattic in the core contribution, the whole development will be super slow.
I want to request you to reconsider that, and at least in the core development maybe you can make some changes, give more resources in the core. Because it’s complicated, …someone needs to work and I think Automattic has lots of resources, experienced people in there, so I want to request you to reconsider your position and give more developers to the core.”
Matt Mullenweg States Condition For Restoring Core Contributions
Mullenweg responded that Automattic’s spending millions of dollars to defend itself against WP Engine. He insisted that the decision to restore Automattic’s core contributions hinges on WP Engine dropping their lawsuits and encouraged the person to ask WP Engine.
Mullenweg answered:
“Yeah, thank you. Well, it’s definitely not a situation I want to be in. As we said, we’re pausing things. But very, very excited to return to having all those hundred-ish folks back doing some of the work we were doing before.
But right now we’re facing not just a maker and taker program problem… but maker-attacker. So well Automattic’s having to spend millions of dollars, per month sometimes, to defend against these attacks from WP Engine and with the court injunction, it’s just hard to be both be motivated and to just spare the resources to contribute so much.
Now, they could end it tomorrow. And I would love to welcome WP Engine back into the fold, back at WordCamp and everything. But we can’t end it, we can only defend it, you know, to all the legal attacks and they are increasing actually. And they’re coming after me personally too. As soon as they stop that, we’ll get back to it.
So please, I can’t stop it. Ask them.”
Mullenweg Asks Audience To Pressure WP Engine To Drop Lawsuit
The person asking the question said he understood Mullenweg’s position but insisted that, as an end user, he wants the software to continue to thrive. For that reason, he pleaded for Automattic to find a way to restore core contributions.
Mullenweg answered the developers second plea and asked the audience to pressure WP Engine to drop the lawsuit:
“I can’t until the lawsuit is over. So if there’s anything y’all can do to put pressure for the lawsuit to end, that would be the fastest thing to get our contributions back.”
He ended his response with a smile, saying:
“So… sorry about that.”
Concern Over Cuts To Core Contribution
The WordPress developer expressed deep concern and anxiety about the pace of WordPress core development. He emphasized that Automattic has historically provided a significant portion of core contributions and feared that without its support, WordPress development would slow significantly, impacting his business and those of others who rely on the platform.
Matt Mullenweg’s response did not directly address the WordPress developer’s plea to reconsider Automattic’s core contribution cuts. His answer framed the decision to restore core contributions as out of his control because it is dependent on WP Engine dropping its lawsuit. He stated that the lawsuit costs Automattic millions of dollars.
Mullenweg’s main points in his response to restoring Automattic’s core contributions were:
Automattic’s reduced contributions result from the financial and legal burden of defending against WP Engine’s lawsuit.
WP Engine’s legal actions make it difficult for Automattic to contribute at previous levels.
He urged the audience to pressure WP Engine to drop the lawsuit.
Watch The Question and Answer segment at the 6:21:32 minute mark:
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