Quote:Original post by TheBuzzSaw
Never absorb the idea that the more open a project is, the fewer opportunities there are to make money. You have so much to gain from open source models. I have been paid considerably well on numerous open source projects. That money had to come from somewhere! :)
The reason this idea is propagated so widely is that open source business models are quite young. Several are maturing (typically Linux and its free OS + paid support model), but open source gaming is particularly young. However, that just means it is your time to make some history!
Think outside the box. You would be surprised what people pay for. I'll just provide one example: in my favorite online strategy games, I would pay money to play against the developers or designers. Obviously, it is up to you and your market research as to whether others want that too, but you just have to consider that fans would consider paying for certain things especially if they did NOT have to pay for the original client/game. Maybe host tournaments with entry fees! Sell access to exclusive forums. I dunno. Be imaginative!
It is paralyzing to dwell on how to adapt the old model (selling copies directly) to newer open models. If you find a way to sell copies, more power to you, but really brainstorm and experiment! You have the blessing of not having any investors/shareholders to answer to! :)
Good luck!
Perhaps you made some money with open source, but I highly doubt it was with games. Open source in and of itself is not a business model. If you presume thats the case, you are begging for failure as a company.
Some companies do indeed do well releasing their software with an OS license modal (usually dual licensing). These are companies that are going to make money from people interested in A) paying fees to use the product in their own closed source product (trolltech used to do this). B) interested in providing commercial/enterprise support, in which case they will be "ahead" of their competition (a few CMS systems, as well as redhat). Or C) use the product as a support product for their main income sources (case point, sun microsystems selling java in order to help sell their servers)
There are pro's to open source in business (mostly in lowering development costs), but it rarely applies to games (unless your engine is so good that major corporations would want to use it, but you will be competing with companies that will blow your pants off. Open source games should be seen purely as a "donation" to independent developers. Not a way to pay rent.
Just some common sense.