DOTA as well, started as a mod for Warcraft 3 and eventually spawned a franchise.
Trying to capture ALL the value (in this case the game developer/publisher) is a mistake anyway. The healthiest game franchises have broad ecosystems around them. Releasing the source code of old games just encourages that.
If there is one set of games I wish were released it is Ambrosia Software's catalog. Of all their games the only one I can find that is open source is Maelstrom (It's the Escape Velocity series, I'd love to see opened).
And Chiral!
Man I'd love a Linux port of that game.
Thanks for bringing that up. Those were good times. And agreed. Would love the source to original EV alone. Gonna take a gander at maelstrom! Thank you!
Their game library had some gems but they famously made most of their ga my es by ripping off other games. I’m guessing that didn’t scale.
Their biggest seller was a small Mac utility called Snapz Pro if memory serves.
They, frankly, were never a company run for anything other than milking a quick buck.
That was one hell of a trip down the memory lane.
Also if you haven't played Endless Sky, that's inspired by EV and open source.