The open-source game market is a growing segment of the video game industry. According to OpenGameArt, there are currently over 6,000 open-source game projects in development, ranging from small experimental games to full-scale commercial releases.
Open-source games only use free content. Adopting an open-source approach means only using software, graphics, music, and other assets that have been released under free licenses.
Revenue generated by open-source games is generally lower than major commercial releases, but there have been instances where they have successfully raised money:
The 80 Level Research Team interviewed 5 developers from the most popular open-source games to gain insights into the inner workings of these projects and explore the potential for the future.
The number of contributors varies depending on the project, but there is usually a group of "core contributors" ranging from 1 to 15 people, as well as "active developers" numbering up to 50 people. The number of people "participating in the community and modding" varies greatly.
Tracking the developers' contributions to the project can be done automatically and manually. The most well-known method of tracking project contributors is GitHub. Project managers can monitor who is active, making comments, issues, or pull requests, and contributing code, art, or translations. GitHub has insights tailored for open-source projects, such as a breakdown of users and their contributions, including the number of commits or lines of code added/removed.
However, not all contributors may be trackable through GitHub, especially those who help in different parts of the infrastructure or do community outreach programs. Additionally, it is only possible to assess the qualitative impact of a particular person's contribution to the project manually, which is handled by a project leader.
Andy Parkhouse | Project Lead, OpenTTD
According to interviewees, open-source games have not been successful commercially. Since the games are already completely free, there is often nothing to monetize. It's very common for successful open-source games to cover operating costs via donations from the community. Many projects have a loyal player base who are often against the pay-to-play model, and monetization may cause players to feel alienated.
Developers of open-source games come across the challenge of distributing funds received through donations because their contributors are based all over the world (and the complexities of making payments and paying taxes come into the picture). To avoid potential disputes over revenue-sharing based on individual contributions, interviewees recommend either hiring developers under a contract or using services like Bounty Source, where contributors can set an amount of money for specific tasks.
Webster Sheets, Technical Lead | Pioneer
Rafael Galvan, Lead Administrator | Rigs Of Rods
Developers have noted difficulties with cross-platform access to games due to the technical configurations of each individual game, difficulties in coding for iOS, optimization for mouse and keyboard input which makes it challenging to port to mobile platforms, as well as a lack of capacity for developing ports to different platforms.
Developers are open to the possibility of distributing their projects through cloud gaming. This could significantly increase the game's user base by attracting new players who can play on devices that are not currently supported.
The interviewees believe that while open-source games are a niche market and require dedicated contributors, they have a bright future with the potential for growth and increased accessibility. Developers see the use of middleware engines such as Godot and new distribution methods like cloud gaming as factors that could contribute to the popularity of open-source games.
Stanislas Dolcini, Project Lead | 0 A.D.
Beherith#9646, Lead Administrator | Beyond All Reason