Open Source MMO

A recent blog posting over at Stropp's World brings to a meeting the common gaming feature of open sourcing and MMOs. In the post titled Open Sourcing The MMO Game, Stropp poses a most interesting question: "Why Don't Publishers Open Source Their Defunct MMO Games?", and follows through with his own opinions as to why some of them should be.

Over the years there have been a bunch of MMO games that have closed down. Earth and Beyond, Auto Assault, and Asheron's Call 2, to name but a few. None of the developers or publishers behind these games, to my knowledge have ever released their MMO game as open source - despite, in some cases, calls from the player community to do so.

Open Sourcing The MMO Game

Permalink

Despite the novelty and legitimacy of this concept, which I personally pursued in Auto Assault's case, it usually runs quickly into Corporate Contracts wall of death. There are numerous legal issues involved in releasing a game engine code and all attached IP and 3rd party strings.

Taking for example Auto Assault's case, NCsoft owns all IP and assets while NetDevil controls the base and engine code, thus complicating any efforts in untangling who owns what in bringing an open sourced mass to the public that doesn't infringe on anyone's rights-toes.

A more optimistic view is of the Myst Online case, where a company owns the entire project and releases a community-controlled development system.

All-in-all, MMOs should start moving towards an open format once its commercial viability is drained, and a community run environment is the best way to preserve its legacy.