You think the development studio would have reached the position to raise 80
million dollar if they went the libre way from the very start of their
carreer? They would never have gained enough financial power to be visible
Why not? It is not because they disrespect the players that studios become
popular. It is because they make good games. And every studio starts small.
i can also imagine that some of your business partners would give you the
middle finger if you tell them that you intend to give away the source code
With the same (wrong) argument, you could state that free software will never
penetrate the server market. Wait...
They have a significantly worse starting point when they want to make a new
one - a lot of people used their engine to make equally great games, maybe in
their freetime, selling it non-commercially.
"Non-commercial" means you cannot sell it. As in Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.
Notice the copyleft (SA) that I added to make my next point: by choosing
copylefted licenses (e.g., GPL for software and Creative Commons BY-NC-SA for
th rest), anyone reusing your work will make your own games better. So,
contrary to what you write, the starting point for your next game gets
better. Besides, if other people want to reuse your work, there is a good
chance a support business would work, hence a new source of income.
