Making Money As An Open Source Game Developer?

Fastball asks: "I have a couple ideas for some web-based games that I'd like to develop. I'm an avid Linux, Perl, Apache, and MySQL user, and I believe in the GPL. However, I'm trying to figure out how I can develop these games as open source and still make a buck. It would be rewarding to produce them without seeing a profit, but I'd like to make enough money to get a company going and quit my current, uninspiring job. Can I get there via open source, would I be more profitable going closed source, or should I forget about make money altogether?"

Comments

Hint.

[Triskaidekaphobia]

Give the game away. Sell the hint/walkthrough book.

Hard Market... Fun Job... Skills First

[metacosm]

My answer to your question is: "you are going about it all wrong" -- if you really want to be a game developer, here are some facts and tips

• Facts
• When looking to break into an existing industry with a new company, you should not even bother trying until you have worked for at least one of the players in that market.
• Game coders are known for being very smart, very hard working, and very underpaid. This is a simple market reality because:
  • Many developers want to be game programmers
  • Most games are flops and never make back the money they put into development

• Tips
• Start getting in on public betas and tests of games you like
• Be a very active participant in the discussions and bug reporting
• Make yourself personally accessable to the game developers

Someday, if you are lucky, you might get a shot at being an actual game coder, and if you are really lucky, that game might be a success! (A friend of mine slid into a development position at DAOC, but she had 10+ years experience coding, was a early tester of DAOC, lived in the area, and made herself extremely involved in testing and feedback, and had to take a massive pay cut to join the team).

After you get this successful game under your belt, and you have a clue how the industry, the work enviroment, and the distribution work, then you can rethink this entire concept of an "open-source game" -- and if you decide todo it at that point, at least you will have a god-damn clue .

I do not intend to be harsh or mean, but the game market is really brutal, and from what I have heard, really fun to be involved in, so I wish you the best of luck. Perhaps you could use an individually completed open-source game as a resume point.

Re:The short answer

[billcopc]

Amen to that! Make a game YOU love to play, not what you think the rest of the world will like.

Proof: I write stupid puzzle action games, like Tetris/Columns/whatever. I like these simple nerve fryers and I've probably played them all, so when I code my own game, I know the pros and cons of each title and thus have an idea what it's like from the player's perspective, so I can tweak the gameplay intelligently. Ask your typical consultant to write a Tetris clone, he'll make a flashy noisy thing, but it'll be the blandest, most un-fun game you've ever played (besides Daikatana). Why ? Because he has no idea what games 'feel' like. To be a writer, you have to love books. To be a musician, you have to love music. To be a game developer, you have to love games. True game programming is art.

Investigate Pre-Existing Projects

[Cycon]

I thinking about similar questions a few years ago, and I can tell you what I came up with:

Write a series of small games, paying attention to details like story and plot development. End each game with a cliff-hanger, or at least an opportunity to continue the story.

Give each game away for free, and see which (if any) of them become popular. Create a sequel to the most popular game(s), and charge a small fee for it (something like $5). If the sequel does well, consider making more sequels in the series.

If you build your project like this, you won't be spending all of your time building a large game that doesn't end up going anywhere. Small games are also easier for a single person to create in their spare time (so you won't have to quit your job and take a chance on your project).

All that being said, you might want to investigate already-existing projects. You might find a lot of GPL'd code you can use for your own games, and you may be able to learn from other's mistakes before you get too involved.

Disclaimer: I've written my own Open Source create-your-own-game software.

--Cycon

Re:Write it for Linux/BSD...

[ConceptJunkie]

Yeah, that's right. If you want to make money writing software, purposely ignore 90% of the market. That'll teach 'em.