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Open Source = you can read the source code and fix it for your own personal needs or contribute something to us yourself.
Free Software = you can read the source and do whatever you please with it. Sometimes you can even make ik closed if you like, with MIT-licensed software.
This wil probably a restricted community license for MODS and stuff, or GPL so that pulishers need to buy a license if you want their game to be sold as closed software.
They could just declare the engine Open Source / Free Software now and simply attach a many digits price tag with the equivalent of whatever they feel the whole developing costs.
This is perfectly valid with FSF/OSI models, you can SELL software. What you can't is force the buyer not to. He can give it away, or he can sell it again, maybe for less, but nothing stops the author from matching prices or later giving it free.
Of course in the meantime they can dual license with something traditional, but leave "open" the chance for a buyer to pay the equivalent the company costs or something. That should provide enough funding for developing the next generation again, and the cycle repeats.
Also remember an engine does not include content, which could still be sold using traditional restricted models.
They could just declare the engine Open Source / Free Software now and simply attach a many digits price tag with the equivalent of whatever they feel the whole developing costs.
This is perfectly valid with FSF/OSI models, you can SELL software. What you can't is force the buyer not to. He can give it away, or he can sell it again, maybe for less, but nothing stops the author from matching prices or later giving it free.
Of course in the meantime they can dual license with something traditional, but leave "open" the chance for a buyer to pay the equivalent the company costs or something. That should provide enough funding for developing the next generation again, and the cycle repeats.
Also remember an engine does not include content, which could still be sold using traditional restricted models.
They also can use modified licenses, something like an "id General Public License", which might be free (as in speech AND as in beer) except for commercial use.
This could be a marketing tactic. In general, every single development kit out there is being slaughtered by Epic's. This could allow developers to make their game first, then buy the dev kit when it's almost done, and Id has the funds to make it work.
John Carmack, id Software has officially that will make available an open source version of its new graphics engine, as it did in the past to id Tech 3.
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