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List of open-source video games

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of notable open-source video games. Open-source video games are assembled from and are themselves open-source software, including public domain games with public domain source code. This list also includes games in which the engine is open-source but other data (such as art and music) is under a more restrictive license.

Open engine and free data

[edit]

The games in this table are developed under a free and open-source license with free content which allows reuse, modification and commercial redistribution of the whole game. Licenses can be public domain, GPL, BSD, Creative Commons, zlib, MIT, Artistic License or other (see the comparison of Free and open-source software and the Comparison of free and open-source software licenses).

Title First release Last release Genre Engine license Content license Dimensions Other information Programming language
0 A.D. 2009 2022 RTS GPL-2.0-or-later CC BY-SA 3.0 3D Historical, cross-platform RTS, using an original engine named Pyrogenesis. Game source-code released July 10, 2009.[1] C++, JavaScript, GLSL
2048 2014 2014 Puzzle MIT MIT 2D A sliding block puzzle game. Ruby, JavaScript, HTML, CSS
A Dark Room 2013 2013 Online text-based role-playing game Mozilla Public License Mozilla Public License Text In July 2013 the source code of the game was put on GitHub under MPL 2.0.[2] Became commercially successful after the source code release. Python, JavaScript, HTML, CSS
Abuse 1996 2011 Run and gun Public-domain software Public domain 2D C, C++, newLISP, CMake, Common Lisp
Argentum Online 1999 2018 MMORPG GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 2D First open-source MMORPG developed in Argentina.[citation needed] Visual Basic, VBA, JavaScript, C++, HTML
Armagetron Advanced 2001 2020 Racing GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D A multiplayer 3D Tron lightcycle racing game.
AstroMenace 2007 2022 Arcade GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later, CC BY-SA 4.0 3D A top-scrolling space shooter.
Ballerburg 1987 2008 (ports) Artillery game Public-domain software Public domain 2D Public-domain software on the authors website with source code.[3] Later ported to other systems such as Linux, MacOS, iOS, etc.
The Battle for Wesnoth 2005 2024 TBТ GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later, CC BY-SA 4.0 2D Turn-based tactical strategy game with RPG elements. Includes a single-player campaign and skirmish modes as well as multiplayer. C++, Lua, Python
Biniax 2005 2012 Puzzle zlib zlib 2D
Bos Wars 2004 2013 RTS GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later Isometric 2D 2D real-time strategy game running on a modified version of the Stratagus engine.
BZFlag 1997 2022 Tank FPS LGPL-2.1-only and MPL-2.0 LGPL-2.1-only and MPL-2.0 3D A first-person shooter 3D tank-based multiplayer online game.
C-Dogs SDL 2002 2024 Run and gun Public-domain software (engine) / GPL-2.0-or-later (game code) CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA 2D Overhead run-and-gun, with hotseat cooperative and deathmatch play for up to four players.
Cart Life 2011 2017 Simulation Cart Life's Free License (permissive license) Cart Life's Free License (permissive license), Freeware 2D In March 2014 the source code and game was made available by Richard Hofmeier for free online, saying he was finished supporting the game.[4][5] Winner of the IGF 2013 award.[6] Mirrored on GitHub.[7]
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead 2013 2023 RPG/Roguelike CC BY-SA 3.0 CC BY-SA 3.0 2D A post-apocalyptic survival roguelike with open-ended gameplay. Financed by a successful crowdfunding campaign on kickstarter.com on 22 June 2013.[8]
Chromium B.S.U. 2000 2016 Arcade Clarified Artistic MIT 2D A fast-paced arcade-style top-scrolling space shooter.
Colobot 2001 2021 RTS, Educational GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 3D Source code of the original game by EPSITEC SA was released in March 2012.[9][10] Since then, the game is maintained by the community as Colobot: Gold Edition.[11]
Colossal Cave Adventure 1976 1995 Text adventure Public-domain software[12] Public domain Text The original text adventure game by Crowther and Woods.
Core War 1984 1984 Programming game Various (public domain, BSD, GPL)[13] Various Text Original created by D. G. Jones and A. K. Dewdney, and continued through the present day by the community.
Crossfire 1992 2019 MMORPG GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 2D Crossfire originally started as a Gauntlet clone[14] developed by Frank Tore Johansen at the University of Oslo, Norway.[15]
DDraceNetwork 2013 2024 Platformer zlib CC BY-SA 3.0 (except font) 2D 2D online multiplayer side-scrolling co-op platformer. C++
Diamond Trust of London 2012 2012 TBS Public-domain software Public domain 2D Following a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, Diamond Trust of London was developed by Jason Rohrer and published by indiePub. On August 28, 2012, it was released for the Nintendo DS. The game has been placed in the public domain, hosted on SourceForge, like most of Rohrer's games.[16]
DRL 2013 2016 Roguelike GPL-2.0-or-later CC BY-SA 4.0 2.5D Based on Doom and Doom II.
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup 2006 2023 Roguelike GPL-2.0-or-later CC0 2D An open-source fork of the 1997 game Linley's Dungeon Crawl.
Endgame: Singularity 2005 2020 Science fiction/AI simulation game GPL-2.0-or-later CC BY-SA 3.0 2D Written in Python by EMH, later continued by the community.[17]
Endless Sky 2015[18] 2024[18] Space trading and combat simulator[19] GPL-3[19] Public domain, various CC licenses[19] 2D Inspired by the Escape Velocity series of games. Continuously updated.[19] C++
Enigma 2003 2021 Puzzle GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 2D Oxyd clone.
Fish Fillets NG 2004 2011 Puzzle GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 2D Released commercially as Fish Fillets in 1998. Source released in 2002 under GPL-2.0-or-later.
FlightGear 1997 2023 Flight Sim GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D Microsoft Flight Simulator-inspired clone.
Freeciv 1996 2023 TBS GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later Isometric 2D Civilization II clone.
FreeCol 2003 2023 TBS GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later Isometric 2D Sid Meier's Colonization clone.
FreeDink 2006 2019 RPG GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 2D Dink Smallwood fork with non-free assets replaced with free ones C++
Friday Night Funkin' 2020 2021 Rhythm MIT License (engine) / Apache License 2.0 (game) Apache License 2.0 (may be non-commercial[20]) 2D A bi-dimensional rhythm game, with gameplay reminiscent of Dance Dance Revolution and aesthetics reminiscent of early-to-mid-2000s browser games.
Frozen Bubble 2002 2008 Puzzle GPL-2.0-only GPL-2.0-only 2D Puzzle Bobble clone.
Gang Garrison 2 2008 2019 Shooter Proprietary (engine) / MPLv2 (game code) MPLv2 2D A retro "demake" of Team Fortress 2. The project was previously under GPLv3.
Glest 2004 2008 RTS GPL-3.0-or-later CC BY-SA 3.0 3D 3D real-time strategy game with two factions, AI, and same-platform networking support. Development ceased in 2008. Two forks exist, named MegaGlest and Glest Advanced Engine.
Globulation 2 2008 2009 RTS GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 2D In open beta as of 2019.
GLtron 2003 2016 Racing GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D Based on the light cycle portion of the film Tron.
GNOME Games 1997 2021 Various GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later A collection of games accompanying the rest of the GNOME desktop environment.
GNU Chess 1984 2021 TBS GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 2D Chess-playing engine developed by the GNU Project.
GNU Go 1999 2009 TBS GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 2D Go-playing engine developed by the GNU Project.
Hunt the Wumpus 1973 1981 Survival horror/adventure/puzzle Various (Public-domain software,[21] GPLv2,[22] MIT)[23] Various (Public-domain software,[21] GPLv2,[22] MIT)[23] 2D Hunting a monster called Wumpus while moving through caves.
HyperRogue 2011 2021 Puzzle/Roguelike/Educational GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later Hyperbolic Puzzle roguelike in the hyperbolic plane.
kiki the nano bot 2003 2007 Puzzle Public-domain software Public domain 3D Mixture of Sokoban and Kula World.
Lincity 1999 2013 City-building game GPL-2.0-only GPL-2.0-only 2.5D SimCity clone.
Liquid War 1995 2015 Maze games GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 2D 2D game in which you control particles and move them to defeat the opposing side.
Luanti (formerly Minetest) 2010 2023 Sandbox, Survival zlib (engine) / LGPL-2.1-or-later[24] (game code) LGPL-2.1-or-later[24] 3D A voxel engine for building games similar to Infiniminer and Minecraft.
Lugaru 2005 2017 Action/third-person shooter GPL-2.0-or-later CC BY-SA[25] 3D A game by Wolfire Games where the player is an anthropomorphic rabbit who seeks revenge when a group of enemy rabbits kill their family.
Maelstrom 1992 2010 Shoot 'em up GPL-2.0-only CC BY 3.0 2D
Mari0 2012 2018 Platformer zlib License (engine) / MIT License (game code) MIT 2D Remake of Super Mario Bros. with elements from Portal.
MegaGlest 2010 2016 RTS GPL-3.0-or-later CC BY-SA 3.0 3D Cross-platform 3D real-time strategy game for up to eight players (can be AI-controlled) on seven factions. MegaGlest is a fork of Glest.
Mindustry 2017 2023 RTS,

TD, Sandbox

GPL-3.0 GPL-3.0 3D The automation tower defense RTS, written in Java.
Moria 1983 1999 RPG/Roguelike GPL-2.0-only[26][27] GPL-2.0-only 2D Roguelike RPG based heavily on J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings.
NetHack 1987 2023 RPG/roguelike NetHack GPL NetHack GPL Text Single-player dungeon exploration game.
Netrek 1988 2020[28] Shoot 'em up MIT MIT 2D A successor to 1986's Xtrek, Netrek was first played in 1988. It was the third Internet game, the first Internet team game, and as of 2022 is the oldest Internet game still actively played.
Nexuiz 2005 2009 FPS GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D Forked into Xonotic.
NoGravity 1997 (?) 2005 Space shooter GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D Source code of the Wing Commander-inspired game released by realtech VR on February 16, 2005.[29]
One Hour One Life 2018 2023 Survival Public domain Public domain 2D Multiplayer co-op survival game.
Oolite 2006 2020 Space Sim GPL-2.0-or-later Dual-licensed under GPL-2.0-or-later and CC BY-NC-SA-3.0 3D Elite clone.
OpenArena 2005 2012 FPS GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D Quake III clone.
OpenCity 2003 2008 City-building game GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D SimCity clone.
OpenClonk 2010 2018 Action, Platform ISC CC BY 2D Successor of the Clonk shareware series.
OpenTTD 2005 2023 Business Sim GPL-2-0-only GPL-2-0-only, GPL-2-0-or-later, CC BY-SA 3.0, CDDL 1.1 2D Open-source clone of Transport Tycoon Deluxe.
Passage 2007 2007 Side-scroller Public-domain software Public domain 2D In 2007 Rohrer released the game's source code and assets into the public domain,[30] while asking for donations (donationware) and selling the iOS version for $0.99.[31]
Pingus 1998 2011 Puzzle GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 2D Lemmings clone.
Pinball Construction Set 1982 1983 Pinball, game creation system MIT MIT 2D First construction set video game, and one of the initial Electronic Arts releases.
Pioneer 2006 2023 Space sim GPL-3.0-only CC BY-SA 3D Inspired by Frontier: Elite 2.
PokerTH 2006 2017 Card AGPL-3.0-or-later AGPL-3.0-or-later 2D Open-source virtual poker game.
Red Eclipse 2011 2019 FPS zlib license CC BY-SA 3D A fork of Cube 2: Sauerbraten, with improved graphics and a style of play that incorporates parkour movement.
Rigs of Rods 2005 2022 Vehicle sim GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 3D Rigs of Rods was initially created as an off-road truck simulator, but has developed into a versatile physics sandbox.
Rocks'n'Diamonds 1995 2018 Puzzle GPL-2.0-only GPL-2.0-only 2D A scrolling tile-based computer puzzle game that can be described as a combined Boulder Dash, Supaplex, Emerald Mine, and Sokoban clone.
Ryzom 2004 2024 MMORPG AGPL-3.0-or-later CC BY-SA 3.0 3D All textures and effects, 3D models, animations, characters and clothing (no music or sounds) are under CC BY-SA.
Scorched 3D 2001 2014 Artillery game GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D Clone of Scorched Earth.
Secret Maryo Chronicles 2003 2014 Platformer GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 2D 2D platformer inspired by the Super Mario series.
The Secret Chronicles of Dr. M. 2017 2020 Platformer GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 2D 2D platformer inspired by the Super Mario series.
Seven Kingdoms 1997 2017 RTS GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 2D Source code released in 2009.
Shattered Pixel Dungeon 2014 2024 Rogue-Like game GPL-3.0-or-later Java 2D Rogue-Like game with procedurally generated levels and a storyline.
Simutrans 1997 2022 Business Sim Artistic Artistic 2D Similar to Transport Tycoon and its open-source clone OpenTTD. The player must build a profitable transportation system.
Sintel The Game 2012 2012 RPG GPL CC BY, GPL 3D A game based on the Blender Foundation movie Sintel.
Soldat 2002 2020 Action MIT license CC BY 4.0[32] 2D On May 26, 2020, the source code of Soldat was released under MIT license on GitHub.[33]
Sopwith 1984 2014 Shoot 'em up GPL GPL 2D The C and x86 assembly source code to Sopwith was released in 2000,[34] at first under a non-commercial use license, but later under the GNU GPL at the request of fans.[35]
Speed Dreams 2010 2023 Sim racing GPL-2.0-or-later FAL 3D Forked from TORCS in late 2008.
StepMania 2001 2018 Rhythm game MIT[36] MIT 2D, 3D A DDR clone, the player must hit buttons or keys in time with the music.
StuntRally 2010 2024 Racing GPL-3.0-or-later C++ 3D Racing game similar to Trackmania.
SuperTux 2003 2021 Platformer GPL-3.0-or-later Various 2D 2D platformer inspired by the Super Mario series.
SuperTuxKart 2006 2022 Racing GPL-3.0-or-later Various 3D Arcade racing game similar to Mario Kart.
Teeworlds 2007 2020 Platformer zlib CC BY-SA 3.0 (except font) 2D 2D online multiplayer side-scrolling shooter.
Tenés Empanadas Graciela 1996 2021 TBS GPL-2-0-only GPL-2-0-only 2D Based on the boardgame Risk.
The Castle Doctrine 2014 2014 MMO Public-domain software Public domain 2D A game by Jason Rohrer, developed on a SourceForge[37] repository and sold on Steam for $15.99.
The Powder Toy 2010 2023 Sandbox game GPL-3.0-only GPL-3.0-only 2D Falling-sand game.
Tremulous 2006 2009 FPS GPLv2 CC BY-SA 2.5[38] 3D Alien vs. human base-building, defending, and attacking the opposing team.
TripleA 2002 2020 TBS GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 2D A turn-based strategy game inspired by the board game Axis & Allies. Development is ongoing.
Tux Racer 2000 2009 Racing GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D A downhill slalom racing game featuring Tux, the Linux mascot.
Tux, of Math Command 2001 2011 Educational game GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 2D
UFO: Alien Invasion 2006 2016 TBТ GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later, CC BY-SA 3.0 3D Inspired by the XCOM series but with 3D combat on the surface of the Earth.
UltraStar Deluxe 2007 2020 Music GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 2D SingStar clone.
Unknown Horizons 2008 2019 City-building game GPL-x2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later, CC BY-SA 3.0, OFLv1 Isometric 2D Genre-mix of city-building game and real-time strategy game, inspired by the Anno series.
Unvanquished 2012 2023 FPS BSD 3-clause, GPLv3+ CC BY-SA 2.5 3D Team-based first-person shooter with strong real-time strategy elements, derived from the Tremulous project.
Vega Strike 2008 2022 Space sim GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D Wing Commander: Privateer clone and space simulator engine.
Veloren 2018 2024 Adventure, RPG GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later 3D, Voxel Open-world, open-source multiplayer voxel RPG. Rust
Warzone 2100 1999 2023 RTS, RTT GPL-2.0-or-later[39] GPL-2.0-or-later, CC0, other open source[40] 3D Post-apocalyptic cross-platform real-time strategy game.
Widelands 2002 2022 RTS GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 2D Widelands is a real-time strategy clone of The Settlers II.
WorldForge 1998 2014 MMORPG GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D An open-source framework for massively multiplayer online role-playing games.
Worms? 1983 1983 Software toy MIT MIT 2D An interactive version of Paterson's worms, and one of the initial Electronic Arts releases.
Xconq 1987 2005 TBS GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 4X strategy game engine.
X-Moto 2005 2023 Platformer GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 2D Elasto Mania clone.
Xonotic 2010 2023 FPS GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 3D A fork and direct successor of Nexuiz. Binary files for Linux and Windows are under GPLv3+.
XPilot 1992 2010 Arcade GPL-2.0-or-later GPL-2.0-or-later 2D A multiplayer Asteroids-like game.
Yo Frankie! 2008 2009 Action-adventure GPL-2.0-or-later, LGPLv2.1 CC BY 3.0 3D

Open-source games with non-free data

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Only the game engines in this table are developed under an open-source license, which means that the reuse and modification of only the code is permitted. As some of the games' content created by the developers (sound, graphics, video and other artwork) is proprietary or restricted in use, the whole games are non-free and restricted in reuse (depending on the content license). The motivation of developers to keep own game content non-free while they open the source code may be the protection of the game as sellable commercial product. It could also be the prevention of a commercialization of a free product in future, e.g. when distributed under a non-commercial license like CC NC. By replacing the non-free content with free content, these games could also become completely free. In practice, many projects include a mixture of free and non-free own content.

Title First release Last release Genre Engine license Content license Dimensions Other information
Angband 1990 2016 Roguelike GPLv2 GPLv2, Proprietary[41] Text
AssaultCube 2006 2022 FPS zlib Freeware 3D Based on Cube. A lightweight online FPS (45-50 MB package), with a built-in map maker and capable of being played with a 56k connection.
C-evo 1999 2013 TBТ, 4X Public-domain software Proprietary 2D Inspired by Sid Meier's Civilization
Alien Arena 2004 2011 FPS GPL Proprietary[42] 3D Based on ID Software open-source engine.
Celeste 64: Fragments of the Mountain 2024 2024 Platformer MIT license Proprietary 3D A open-source game made for the six anniversary of Celeste.[43]
Cube 2002 2005 FPS zlib Proprietary 3D Deathmatch style multiplayer gameplay with map editing.
Cube 2: Sauerbraten 2004 2020 FPS zlib Various non-free and some free licenses 3D Deathmatch style multiplayer gameplay with map editing.
Doom 1993 1997 FPS GPL Shareware 2.5D Game engine source code was released on December 23, 1997.
Frets on Fire 2006 2008 Music GPL GPL, Proprietary 3D Guitar Hero clone.
Frogatto & Friends 2010 2013 Platformer zlib license Proprietary[44] 2D Initially for Windows, Linux, and Mac; hold and toss enemies, swim, talk; scripting language included.
Gravity Bone 2008 2009 Platformer GPLv2 Freeware 3D Brendon Chung built this game on base of the Quake II engine and released therefore the game's source code in 2008. In 2015 ported to Linux and the OpenPandora handheld.[45]
H-Craft Championship 2007 2015 Racing zlib[46] Free for personal use[47] 3D Sci-fi racer for Linux, Windows and Android which is using the Irrlicht engine.
Hammerfight 2009 2011 physics based combat zlib[48] commercial 2D For the third Humble Indie Bundle[49][50] Ryan C. Gordon ported the underlying game engine, "Haaf's Game Engine", to Linux and Mac OS X, and released source code under the zlib license.[51][52]
Katawa Shoujo 2012 2012 Visual Novel MIT license (most of game and engine beside some scripts[53]) CC BY-NC-ND 2D A visual novel.
Narcissu 2005 2005 Visual novel GPL Freeware/PFSL[54] 2D Is a free visual novel by the dōjin group stage-nana, telling the story of a terminally ill young man and woman. The English version was made with the ONScripter engine.[55]
osu! 2007 2023 Rhythm game MIT license CC BY-NC 4.0 2D Open-source clone of several games, including Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, Taiko no Tatsujin and beatmania IIDX. On August 28, 2016, an Open-source re-write of the osu! client was announced (code named osu!lazer). It was released under the MIT License on GitHub, assets under CC BY-NC.[56][57] Aims is to make osu!, written in C# with the .NET Framework, available to more platforms and transparent.[58] The closed-source stable osu client is still used by the majority of the playerbase, however it is feature locked[59] and the developers aim to deprecate it once osu!lazer gains user acceptance.
Overgrowth 2008 2017 Action Apache License 2.0 Proprietary 3D Source code released on 2022, April 22.
PlaneShift 2001 2016 MMORPG GPL Proprietary 3D Free to play MMORPG.
OpenJK 2003 2020 Third-person shooter GPLv2 Proprietary 3D Source code was released as GPLv2 by Raven Software and Activision following the dissolution of Lucas Arts in 2013.
Steel Storm: Episode I 2010 2010 Action GPLv2[60] CC BY-NC-SA 3.0[61] Based on DarkPlaces. An indie top-down arcade shooter with single-player, deathmatch, and co-op.
Smokin' Guns 2009 2012 FPS GPLv2 Proprietary 3D Western-themed first-person shooter using the ioquake3 engine.
Tales of Maj'Eyal 2012 2016 RPG/Roguelike GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later, Proprietary[62] 2D Developed open-source from the beginning with the own T4E engine,[63] while the assets are kept proprietary for commercialization on Steam and gog.com.
The Dark Mod 2009 2023 Stealth game GPL-3.0-or-later CC BY-NC-SA 3D First person stealth game in the style of the Thief games (1 and 2) using a modified Id Tech 4 engine
The Last Eichhof 1993 2014 Shoot-'em-up "Do whatever your want" license (public domain)[64] Freeware 2D Shoot-'em-up game released for DOS in 1993 by Swiss development group Alpha Helix. Source code released in 1995.
The Ur-Quan Masters 2002 2021 Action-adventure GPL-2.0-or-later CC BY-NC-SA-2.5 2D Source port of Star Control II.
The White Chamber 2005 2006 / 2013 Adventure MIT license (Wintermute Engine) / CC BY-NC-SA (game code) CC BY-NC-SA / Freeware 2D The White Chamber and its Wintermute source code have been released under CC BY-NC-SA Creative Commons license.[65] That means anyone is free to share and modify the game as long Studio Trophis is credited, it is not for commercial gain and that the result is made available under a similar license. 2013 the Wintermute engines source code was released under MIT.
TORCS 1997 2016 Racing GPL Free Art License, Proprietary 3D Some car models are non-free, but there is a DFSG-compliant version which does not include them.
Urban Terror 2000 2018 FPS GPL Proprietary 3D Multiplayer tactical shooter based on the id tech 3 engine.[66]
VDrift 2005 2012 Racing GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-3.0-or-later, Proprietary 3D Some datas are non-free, for example the "SV" car model, under a CC BY-NC-SA license.
Warsow 2005 2017 FPS GPL-2.0-or-later CC BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-ND 4.0 3D A fast-paced arena FPS with movement tricks.
World of Padman 2007 2008 FPS GPL Proprietary Originally a Quake III modification. Became stand-alone in 2007, now runs on ioquake3.
Zero-K 2010 2023 RTS GPL-2.0-or-later various, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0[67] (sound) 3D A multi-platform real time strategy game inspired by Total Annihilation, powered by the Spring game engine. Released 2018 on Steam.[68]

Open-source remakes with non-free data from the proprietary original

[edit]
Main article: Game engine recreation
See also: List of game engine recreations

The video game remakes in this table were developed under an open-source license which allows usually the reuse, modification and commercial redistribution of the code. The required game content (artwork, data, etc.) is taken from a proprietary and non-opened commercial game, so that the whole game is non-free. See also the Game engine recreation page.

Title First release Last release Genre Engine license Content license Dimensions Other information
Arx Libertatis 2012 2022 RPG, Immersive sim GPL-3.0-or-later Proprietary. While Arx Fatalis is open-source, the textures and other assets are proprietary content. 3D Engine remake of Arx Fatalis.
Daggerfall Unity ?[69] 2022 RPG Proprietary (engine) /MIT License (game code) Proprietary. It uses proprietary content from Daggerfall. 3D Engine remake of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
OpenAge ?[70] 2023 RTS GPL-3.0-or-later Proprietary. It uses proprietary content from Age of Empires II 2D Engine remake for the classic games in the Age of Empires franchise, in particular Age of Empires II.
OpenLoco 2018[71] 2024 Simulation GPL-3.0-or-later Proprietary. It uses proprietary content from Chris Sawyer's Locomotion 2D Engine remake of Locomotion
OpenMW 2008 2022 RPG GPL-3.0-or-later Proprietary / CC BY SA (OpenMW Example Suit) 3D Engine remake of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
OpenRA 2009 2023 RTS GPL-3.0-or-later Proprietary. It uses proprietary content from the freeware releases of the classic games.[72] 2D Engine remake for the classic games in the Command & Conquer franchise, in particular Red Alert.
OpenRW 2019 2020 Action-adventure GPL-3.0-or-later Proprietary. The media of Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. 3D Engine remake of Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
OpenRCT2 2014[73] 2023 Simulation GPL-3.0-or-later Proprietary. It uses proprietary content from Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 and if chosen the expansion packs as well. 2D Engine remake of Rollercoaster Tycoon 2
OpenXcom 2009[74] 2020 TBТ GPL-3.0-or-later Proprietary. It uses proprietary content from the X-COM: UFO Defense or Terror from the Deep releases of the classic games, which the user needs to have a copy of.[75] 2D Engine remake for the classic games in the X-COM franchise, in particular X-COM: UFO Defense.

Source-available games

[edit]

Video games in this table are source-available, but are neither open-source software according to the OSI definition nor free software according to the Free Software Foundation. These games are released under a license with limited rights for the user, for example only the rights to read and modify the game's source for personal or educational purposes but no reuse rights beside the game's original context are granted. Typical licenses are the creative commons "non-commercial" licenses (e.g. CC BY-NC-SA), MAME like licenses or several shared source licenses.

Title First release Last release Genre Engine license Content license Dimensions Other information
Alien Swarm 2010 2010 Shooter game Non-commercial usable and shareable[76] Freeware 3D In 2010 Valve released this Source engine based game with source code, which started as a mod.
Bugdom 1999 2003 Platformer CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 3D Released under a non-commercial license in 2020.[77]
Hero Core 2010 2013 Shooter game Non-commercial, attribution required Freeware 2D Around 2013 Daniel Remar released the GameMaker source code of the game, together with the sources of his other games like Iji.[78]
Flow 2006 2009 Life simulation ? (educational purposes) Freeware 2D (layered) Around 2009 the flash source code was made available for educational purposes by the developers.[79]
Fortress Forever 2007 2018 FPS Proprietary 3D Unofficial, open-source Source engine successor to Team Fortress Classic.
Half-Life[80] 1998 2023[81] FPS Proprietary ? 3D The source codes of the Half-Life video game are available, but the source codes of GoldSrc, the game engine of this video game, are not available.
I Wanna Be the Guy 2007 2011 Platform game Proprietary Freeware 2D On November 9, 2011, the developer Michael "Kayin" O'Reilly released the source code of the game under an own software license (forbidding new content)[82][83] so that the game's community would be able to create fixes and patches.[84]
Jump 'n Bump 1998 1999 Deathmatch Platformer Emailware[85] Emailware 2D 1998 freeware DOS platform video game, written in C and Assembly language by Brainchild Design. The source code was released in 1999, then source ported to several other operating systems and platforms via SDL.
Larn 1986 2016 Roguelike Non-commercial Freeware Text
Noctis 2000[86] 2003 Platformer WTOF Public License[87] Freeware 3D Space exploration/flight simulation
Notrium 2003 2008 Top-down shooter Survival game custom FOSS license / GPLv3 custom FOSS license / Freeware 2D Notrium's source code was released by the developer after 2003 under a custom software license and is developed as OpenNotrium on GitHub since then, with new code being GPLv3.[88]
Prince of Persia 1989 1989 Cinematic platformer Action-adventure Proprietary Proprietary 2D On April 17, 2012, Jordan Mechner released the Apple II source code of the game on GitHub.[89]
Progress Quest 2002 2011 Parody MMORPG Proprietary Freeware 2D On May 20, 2011, Eric Fredricksen released the source code of the game on bitbucket.[90][91]
Racer 2003 2011 (proprietary) Sim racing Proprietary Proprietary, Freeware Only source code of 0.5 version is available, all other releases are closed source.
Space Engineers 2013 2018 Sandbox, simulation Distribution as mod allowed Proprietary 3D
Space Station 13 2003 2024 RPG Proprietary GNU AGPLv3 / CC BY-NC-SA / Others (depends on server) 2D Many different servers exist each with a different codebase and different license.
Spelunky 2008 2009 Platformer Non-commercial[92] Freeware 2D The source code of the 2008's Windows freeware version was published on December 25, 2009, under a software license permitting noncommercial distribution and modification.[92] Based on this source code the game community created a community patch which added support for Mac OS X.[93][94] The source code for the 2012 remake has not been made available.
Visual Pinball 2000 2019 Pinball simulation editor and game MAME like license diverse 3D Many free custom tables and recreations of original machines available. The program is also able to operate with Visual PinMAME.
VVVVVV 2010 2020 Platformer Attribution required[95] Proprietary 2D On the 10th anniversary of the game's release in January 2020, developer Terry Cavanagh made its source code publicly available on GitHub.[96]

Proprietary developed games, later released under varying licenses

[edit]
Main article: List of commercial video games with later released source code

For games that were originally developed proprietary as commercial closed source product, see also Category:Commercial video games with freely available source code.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "0 A.D. Open Source Release". wildfiregames.com.
  2. ^ A Dark Room goes open source Archived 2015-09-07 at the Wayback Machine on doublespeakgames.com (July 3, 2013)
  3. ^ April 1987: Ballerburg - Zwei Spieler, zwei Burgen und ein Berg dazwischen... on eckhardkruse.net "Ich habe das Programm als Public Domain veröffentlicht" (in German)
  4. ^ Petitte, Omri (20 March 2014). "Cart Life exits Steam, goes open source". PC Gamer. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  5. ^ cartlife_opensores.zip on the author's dropbox
  6. ^ "The 17th Annual Independent Games Festival". igf.com. 2013-03-28.
  7. ^ cartlife_src
  8. ^ "Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead - Dedicated Developer". Kickstarter. 22 June 2013.
  9. ^ (in Polish) Announcement on Polish Portal of Colobot Archived 2012-08-07 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Original Colobot source code release license
  11. ^ Colobot: Gold Edition README
  12. ^ Jerz, D.G. "Colossal Cave Adventure". Seton Hill University. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  13. ^ corewar on SourceForge
  14. ^ ftp://ftp.ifi.uio.no/pub/crossfire/historic[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "Re: CF: the begining [sic] of crossfire". real-time.com. Archived from the original on 2007-04-04. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
  16. ^ Rohrer, Jason (2011-10-17). "DiamondTrust/ci/default/tree". SourceForge. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  17. ^ singularity on github.com
  18. ^ a b "Releases · endless-sky/endless-sky". GitHub. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  19. ^ a b c d Endless Sky, Endless Sky, 2023-10-23, retrieved 2023-10-24
  20. ^ Taylor, Cameron [@ninja_muffin99] (14 March 2021). "By default we made Friday Night Funkin, so we automatically get copyright protection. The game is open source, but that only covers like the actual code. The assets are in a state where we cool if people use it in fanstuff, but it gets iffy when people [are trying] to make money" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ a b Ahl, David H.; Green, Burchenal, eds. (1978). The Best of Creative computing. Morristown, N.J. ISBN 0-916688-01-1. OCLC 2188876.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  22. ^ a b "Hunt the Wumpus". www.codeproject.com. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  23. ^ a b Lovy, Ben (2020-05-28), deciduously/hunt-the-wumpus, retrieved 2020-11-06
  24. ^ a b "LICENSE.txt". GitHub. October 25, 2021.
  25. ^ "Lugaru HD". Gitlab. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  26. ^ "Umoria - The Classic Roguelike Dungeon Crawler". Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  27. ^ "free-moria". Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  28. ^ "Netrek Client (C and X11)". Github project page. 2020-05-16. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  29. ^ No Gravity (Classic) on sourceforge.net
  30. ^ supportMyWork on hcsoftware.sourceforge.net "I release all of the source code that I write as free software (free as in "freedom") into the public domain" (accessed 2016)
  31. ^ Passage on itunes.apple.com
  32. ^ Soldat asset license on github.com
  33. ^ soldat on github.com
  34. ^ Clark, Dave (2000-10-29). "Sopwith Code Support". Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
  35. ^ Clark, Dave. "Sopwith – Source Code". Dave Clark's Home Page. Archived from the original on 2012-02-06. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
  36. ^ "stepmania/stepmania". GitHub. 2019-08-26.
  37. ^ CastleDoctrine on sourceforge.net
  38. ^ [tremulous] View of /trunk/COPYING
  39. ^ "Warzone2100/warzone2100". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  40. ^ "Warzone2100/warzone2100 - COPYING.NONGPL". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  41. ^ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/angband/angband/master/copying.txt Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine The sounds are licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license. Shockbolt's graphics are licensed under a non-free license.
  42. ^ "[alienarena] Log of /trunk/docs/license.txt". Svn.icculus.org. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  43. ^ "Releases · ExOK/Celeste64". GitHub.
  44. ^ Developer Info Source Code and License: [...] Our code is open-source, our content isn’t.
  45. ^ gravitybone-pandora on github.com
  46. ^ http://www.irrgheist.com/hcraftsource.htm "For the most part H-Craft Championship sources are released under the zlib-license."
  47. ^ http://www.irrgheist.com/hcraftsource.htm You are not allowed to modify or distribute the media files or use them in your own games. But you can still download the media files and they are free for personal use.
  48. ^ license.txt on hg.icculus.org/icculus/hge-unix
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  50. ^ HGE-comes-to-Mac-and-Linux-guest-post-from-Ryan-Gordon on wolfire.com (August 2011)
  51. ^ Ryan Gordon Ports HGE To Linux, Then Releases Code on Phoronix by Michael Larabel (August 07, 2011)
  52. ^ hge-unix on icculus.org "August 7th, 2011: Source code released to the world!"
  53. ^ "Katawa Shoujo Forums • View topic - Please release Katawa Shoujo source code as free software". renai.us.
  54. ^ narcissu.txt
  55. ^ narcissu on insani.org
  56. ^ "ppy/osu". GitHub. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
  57. ^ "2016-08 dev meeting". ppy blog. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
  58. ^ "demystifying open source osu!". ppy blog. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
  59. ^ "Add a feature that allows you to report bugs in-game for stable". GitHub. 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  60. ^ "Steel Storm Episode I". blendernation.com. 2010-09-20.
  61. ^ "STEEL STORM EPISODE 1 LIMITED USER SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT". steel-storm.com. Retrieved 2013-08-10. the Art Assets [...] are licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. The Engine [...] licensed under GNU GPL v2 license.
  62. ^ COPYING-MEDIA on git.net-core.org/tome "All the medias located in all the "/data/gfx" folders are granted to use with the Tales of Maj'Eyal game only. Please contact darkgod@te4.org for more informations." (2016)
  63. ^ COPYING on git.net-core.org/tome (2016)
  64. ^ beersrc.zip - readme "Do whatever your want" license
  65. ^ source code at studiotrophis.com
  66. ^ "Urban Terror News". urbanterror.info.
  67. ^ "license.txt". github.com.
  68. ^ Tarason, Dominic (2018-04-27). "Free Total Annihilation-like RTS Zero-K lands on Steam". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  69. ^ Clayton, Gavin (2022-02-20), What is Daggerfall Unity?, retrieved 2022-02-20
  70. ^ SFTtech/openage, [SFT]Technologies, 2022-02-20, retrieved 2022-02-20
  71. ^ "OpenLoco About". OpenLoco. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  72. ^ "Legal | OpenRA".
  73. ^ "OpenRCT2 About". OpenRCT2. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  74. ^ "A little history". OpenXcom. 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  75. ^ "Installing (OpenXcom)".
  76. ^ AlienSwarm fork on github.com "readme: You may, free of charge, download and use the SDK to develop a modified Valve game running on the Source engine. You may distribute your modified Valve game in source and object code form, but only for free."
  77. ^ Jorio, Iliyas (2022-02-19), Bugdom, retrieved 2022-02-20
  78. ^ resources on remar.se "source code"
  79. ^ You can get it here. Archived 2016-04-01 at the Wayback Machine on thatgamecompany.com by Jenova Chen (Sep 21, 2009)
  80. ^ ValveSoftware/halflife, Valve Software, 2024-09-12, retrieved 2024-09-13
  81. ^ "Half-Life | Builds, patches, and notes". 2024-09-13. Retrieved 2024-09-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  82. ^ "Fix My Game: IWBTG Source Code Release". Kayin.pyoko.org. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  83. ^ DIYGamer: Recursive Romhackery – I Wanna Be The Guy Source Code Released (2011)
  84. ^ "IWBTG! - Downloads!". Kayin.pyoko.org. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  85. ^ Jump 'n Bump Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine readme.txt JUMP 'N BUMP by Brainchild Design in 1998 Jump 'n Bump is e-mailware. That means you're supposed to send us an e-mail.
  86. ^ "Web Archive records of the earliest Noctis' homepage". Archived from the original on 2000-04-25. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
  87. ^ license
  88. ^ copying github.com OpenNotrium
  89. ^ Prince of Persia source code
  90. ^ Source Code ReleasedProgressQuest v6.3
  91. ^ pq on bitbucket.org
  92. ^ a b Spelunky User License v1.1b
  93. ^ Sarkar, Samit (2012-10-12). "Spelunky unofficially patched with Mac OS X support". polygon.com. Retrieved 2014-08-07. Spelunky [...] is now playable on Mac OS X, thanks to an unofficial patch from the game's community.
  94. ^ "Spelunky v1.3 (and Source) - Now for Mac OS X and Windows". 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
  95. ^ "VVVVVV Source Code License v1.0". GitHub. 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  96. ^ Brown, Fraser (10 January 2020). "VVVVVV goes open source for its 10 year anniversary". PC Gamer. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
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