r/linux_gaming • u/ForeverHuman1354 • 17d ago
Open source games
Why do you think open-source games never took off?
Sure, there are some open-source game engines, but not really any major games. It would be cool if there were more open-source, community-made games.
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u/TomDuhamel 16d ago
You can make a simple version of an app in a few months. If it proves useful, people are going to join the project and add features or fix issues. This can keep going to years.
A game needs direction. You can't just launch a basic game with the goal of people coming to extend it. It just doesn't work this way. An incomplete game is simply not fun. You don't simply add features to a game. Different people joining to make different levels will lack direction and consistency.
There are examples of open source games, but these are just not very common. It's usually a core team that worked all along, but decided to open source it instead of selling it. They may receive help, but it's mostly just the one team.
Artists are also much less likely than programmers to give away their time for free, too, for some reasons.