List of commercial video games with later released source code
This is a list of commercial video games with later released available source code. The source code of these commercially developed and distributed video games is available to the public or the games' communities.
Background
Commercial video games are typically developed as proprietary closed source software products, with the source code treated as a trade secret. When there is no more expected revenue, these games enter the end-of-life as a product with no support or availability for the game's users and community.In several of the cases listed here, the game's developers released the source code expressly to prevent their work from becoming lost. Such source code is often released under varying software licenses to the games' communities or the public; artwork and data are often released under a different license than the source code, as the copyright situation is different or more complicated. The source code may be pushed by the developers to public repositories, or given to selected game community members, or sold with the game, or become available by other means.
Source code availability in whatever form allows the games' communities to study how the game works, make modifications, and provide technical support themselves when the official support has ended, e.g. with unofficial patches to fix bugs or source ports to make the game compatible with new platforms.
Some developers that have released their source code have concluded that, in general terms, such action has not been harmful and even beneficial, among them Alec Holowka, Adam Saltsman, John Carmack, Brian Hook, and Terry Cavanagh. Wolfire Games also noted that releasing the source code didn't reduce sales. However, releasing the source code may and has led to clones using the original proprietary assets from the game, with two notable examples of games having clones thanks to the source release being Canabalt and Lugaru HD. Although Saltsman has noted that those clones can be removed from storefronts with a DMCA takedown notice, Jeff Rosen, co-founder of Wolfire Games, has recognized that such practices may discourage game developers from releasing their code.
Lists
Open engine and game data
The games in this table were released under a free and open-source license with free content which allows reuse, modification and commercial redistribution of the whole game. Licenses can be public domain, GPL, BSD, Creative Commons, zlib, MIT, Artistic License or other.| Title | First release | Source code release | Genre | Engine license | Content license | Original developer | Additional information | |
| Abuse | 1995 | 2003 | Run and gun | Public domain software | Public domain and Proprietary* | Crack dot Com | Game source code was released as public domain along with the shareware-released media files. Only shareware data, excluding the sound effects, is in the public domain; the rest is proprietary. In 2016 a community developer released a "20th anniversary source port" which enabled custom resolutions, OpenGL rendering, Xbox 360 controller support and fixed the music. | |
| Adventureland | 1978 | 1980 | Text Adventure game | Public domain software | Public domain | Scott Adams | Scott Adams Adventureland's source code was published in SoftSide magazine in 1980 and the database format was subsequently used in other interpreters such as Brian Howarth's Mysterious Adventures series. | |
| Alien Bash I+II | 1993 | 2014 | Run and gun | public domain software | public domain | Glen Cumming | Glen Cumming provided media and material of his Amiga games AlienBash and AlienBash II to the fan community, who was able to restore source code in 2014. | |
| Ant-Eater | 1983 | 2021 | Maze | MIT | MIT | Eddy Fries | On March 30, 2021, Kay Savetz uploaded the source code for Ant-Eater, Princess and Frog, Sea Chase, and two unreleased video games by Ed Fries to GitHub under the MIT license with permission of Fries. | |
| AstroMenace | 2006 | 2007 | Arcade | GPL-3.0-or-later | CC BY-SA 3.0 | Viewizard | Based on AstroMenace which was released in February 2007 as shareware for Windows and freeware for Linux. Also the source code of another Viewizard game, the puzzle collection Memonix, was released. | |
| Beyond the Titanic | 1986 | 2009 | Text adventure | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-2.0-or-later | Apogee Software | Game source released on March 20, 2009. | |
| Bird Strike | 1984 | 2021 | Shoot 'em up | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 | Andy Frigaard | On June 20, 2021, the source code for Bird Strike for the BBC Micro was uploaded to GitHub under the GPLv3 by Andy Frigaard, the original developer. | |
| Blades of Exile | 1997 | 2007 | RPG | GPL-2.0-only | GPL-2.0-only | Spiderweb Software | Source code and artwork was released by Jeff Vogel under a GPL license in June 2007. | |
| Clonk series | 1994 | 2010/2014 | Action, RTS, Platform | ISC | CC BY-SA 3.0 | RedWolf Design / Matthes Bender | For the series the C++ source code was released under the "Clonk Source Code License ". The content of the original game series was released under the CC BY-NC. Based on Clonk Rage code base the community continues the development as OpenClonk under ISC license and content as CC BY-SA. | |
| Colobot | 2001 | 2012 | Educational game, RTS | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | Epsitec SA | Game source released on March 26, 2012. | |
| Colossal Cave Adventure | 1976 | 2000/2005 | Text Adventure | Public domain software / BSD | no artwork | Will Crowther | Source code variants are at least available as far back as 2000. An authentic version was retrieved in 2005 "from a backup of Don Woods's student account at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab ". In February 2017 Eric S. Raymond was involved in the release of version 2.5 under the BSD license, the last release by the original author alone. | |
| Cylindrix | 1996 | 2001 | Arcade, Shooter | LGPL-2.0-only | LGPL-2.0-only | Goldtree Enterprises / Softdisk | Around December 2001 the games was ported from DOS to Windows and released under the LGPL to the public. | |
| Cytadela | 1995 | 2006 | FPS | GPL-3.0-or-later | GPL-3.0-or-later | Virtual Design | Upon its retail release, Cytadela received generally favorable reviews. In early 2006 the original Cytadela developer offered the Amiga source code of the FPS game to the community, which started a conversion project hosted on SourceForge. Ported to several platforms, latest version released in 2013. | |
| Dandy | 1983 | 2018 | Dungeon crawl | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 | John Howard Palevich | In March 2018 the source code for the Atari 8-bit version was released by Kevin Savetz with permission of Palevich. It was also uploaded to Palevich's own GitHub repository for Dandy which uses the Apache License 2.0, where he also maintains reverse engineered ports to a variety of programming languages. | |
| Dragonfire | 1982 | 2003 | action | public domain software | public domain | Imagic / Bob Smith | Source code of this Imagic Atari 2600 game was released by developer Bob Smith on May 24, 2003, into the public domain. Many more Atari games got disassembled and commented by the Atari community. | |
| Duelyst | 2016 | 2023 | CCG | MIT/CC0 | CC0 | Counterplay Games | Almost three years later after the servers were shut down, Counterplay Games released the entire game, built on top of Backbone.js, to the public domain under the CC0 license on GitHub. | |
| Eat The Whistle - France 98 | 1998 | 2004 | Sports game | GPL-2.0-only | GPL-2.0-only | Hurricane Studios | The France 98 football Simulation video game was released for the Amiga in 1998. Around 2004 Eat the Whistle was released under the GPL-2.0-only on SourceForge. Later ported to many other platforms. | |
| Escape Towards The Unknown | 1998 | 2004 | Point and click adventure | GPL-2.0-only | GPL-2.0-only | Hurricane Studios | Around 2004 Escape Towards The Unknown was released under the GPL-2.0-only on SourceForge, together with the Eat The Whistle. Later ported to many other platforms. | |
| Fish Fillets | 1998 | 2002 | Puzzle | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-2.0-or-later | ALTAR Games | Released commercially as Fish Fillets in 1998. Source released in 2002 under the GPL. | |
| Gladiator | 1995 | 2002 | top down perspective action game | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | Forgotten Sages Games | Released in 1995 as DOS shareware game, in 2002 the game's source code was released under GPL by the developers. Development and porting by the game's community continued on SourceForge under the name OpenGlad. | |
| Glitch | 2009 | 2013 | MMO | CC0 | CC0 | Tinyspeck | In 2013, one year after the MMO was shut down, most of the artwork and parts of the code were released under the CC0 license. | |
| God of Thunder | 1993 | 2020 | Puzzle video game | Public domain software | Public domain Freeware | Adept Software | On March 27, 2020, Ron Davis released the source code and sound assets as public domain on SourceForge. | |
| Gravity Force 2 | 1994 | 2008 | Multidirectional shooter | CC BY-SA 4.0 | CC BY-SA 4.0 | Jens Andersson & Jan Kronqvist | On September 21, 2008, the developers of the Amiga shareware title Gravity Force 2 released the source code for "nostalgic interest" without specified license. In April 2017 the authors clarified the game and source code license as CC BY-SA 4.0. | |
| Habitat | 1985 | 2016 | early MMORPG | MIT | MIT | Randy Farmer and Chip Morningstar/Lucasfilm Games | The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment received the game's source code from its original developers, and restored the code in a Hackathon. In July 2016, the source code was uploaded to GitHub under MIT license. | |
| Halloween: The New Nightmare | 2004 | 2021 | FPS | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | Jadeware | Commercial indie game first released online and by mail order. Released on to GitHub in 2021. | |
| Inside a Star-Filled Sky | 2011 | 2011 | Top-down shooter | Public domain software | Public domain | Jason Rohrer | Inside a Star-filled Sky, for purchase for $12, was put by developer Jason Rohrer into public domain, like many other of his games. | |
| Kaiser II | 1988 | 2003 | economical simulation | GPL | GPL | Carsten Strotmann | In 2003 Kaiser II author Carsten Strotmann released the source code under the GPL as Free Software. | |
| Kroz | 1987 | 2009 | Maze | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-2.0-or-later | Apogee Software | Game source released on March 20, 2009. | |
| Lemonade Stand | 1973 | 1979 | Business simulation game | Public domain software | no artwork | Bob Jamison, Charlie Kellner / MECC | The Applesoft BASIC source code was available since 1979. The game was later ported to modern REALbasic and released as open-source software for many platforms like Windows and MacOS. | |
| Lugaru | 2005 | 2010 / 2016 | Action-adventure game | GPL-2.0-or-later | CC BY-SA 3.0 | Wolfire Games | Open sourced with the first Humble Indie Bundle by Wolfire Games. In November 2016 David Rosen relicensed all assets under the open content CC BY-SA 3.0 Creative Commons license which makes Lugaru a fully free video game. In begin 2017 an open source HD version followed. | |
| Maelstrom | 1992 | 1995/2010 | Shoot 'em up | GPL-2.0-only | CC BY 3.0 | Ambrosia Software | Asteroids clone. 1995 source released under GPL. In 2010 Andrew Welch and Ian Gilman released the game's contents under a Creative Commons license. | |
| MegaBall | 1991 | 2012 | Breakout clone | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 | Mackey Software/Ed Mackey | The Amiga game MegaBall was programmed by Mackey Software in 1991–1993. Inspired by Taito's Arkanoid it has several features more. The original author released in 2012 the source code of MegaBall under the Apache License v2. | |
| NoGravity | 1996 | 2005 | 3D space space shooter / Wing Commander | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | realtech VR | Source code released by realtech VR on February 16, 2005. | |
| Nothing to Hide | 2013 | 2013 | Stealth game | CC0 | CC0 | Nicky Case | The crowdfunded surveillance/privacy-themed video game prototype by indie game developer Nicky Case was crowdfunded and opened under CC0 on GitHub between 2013 and 2015. | |
| PaybackTime 2 | 1997 | 2014 | turn-based tactics game | public domain software | public domain | Niko Nevatie and Kari Luojus | The turn-based tactics game, inspired by Laser Squad and UFO: Enemy Unknown, was developed by two Finnish students in Turbo Pascal and x86 assembly. They marketed their game as shareware for DOS in 1997. The authors released the game in August 2014 as public domain software, including the assets. | |
| Pinball Construction Set | 1983 | 2013 | pinball video game | MIT | MIT | Bill Budge, Electronic Arts | In 2013, Budge released the source code to the Atari 8-bit and Apple II versions of Pinball Construction Set to the public on GitHub under the MIT license. | |
| Planet Blupi | 1997 | 2017 | Platformer | GPL-3.0-or-later | GPL-3.0-or-later | Epsitec SA / Daniel Roux, Denis Dumoulin, Mathieu Schroeter | Planet Blupie was freed and ported to all major platforms for its 20th anniversary, released open source under GPLv3 on GitHub in 2017. Speedy Blupi, part of Blupi series, has been released as freeware by EPSITEC too and is available at blupi.org. | |
| Principia | 2013 | 2022 | Sandbox game | BSD 3-Clause | BSD 3-Clause | Bithack AB | Principia was announced to be made open source in 2016, but the source code was not released until 2022. Development of the game has since then been continued by the community after its source code release. | |
| Spacewar! | 1962 | 2003 | Space combat | Public-domain software | Public domain | Steve Russell | Source code became available around 2003. | |
| RuneSword II | 2001 | 2004 | Turn-based strategy | Public domain software | Public domain | CrossCut Games | In 2004 CrossCut Games released the game into the public domain on SourceForge. Since then there is continuous development by the community on the game. | |
| Ryzom | 2004 | 2010 | MMORPG | AGPL-3.0-or-later | CC BY-SA 3.0 | Nevrax | In response to the folding of Nevrax, the Free Ryzom Campaign was launched in order to gather enough funds from donations from the community to purchase Ryzom and release the game as free software. The campaign was almost successful with €172,988 of the required €200,000 gathered. On May 6, 2010, Winch Gate announced the full release of source code and artwork, and a partnership with the Free Software Foundation. | |
| Seven Kingdoms | 1996 | 2008 | RTS | GPLv2 | GPLv2 and Proprietary* | Enlight | Source code released by Enlight in November, 2008. *Music is proprietary | |
| SimCity | 1989 | 2008 | City-building game | GPL-3.0-or-later | GPL-3.0-or-later | Maxis | Source code released by Don Hopkins under GPL in 2008. For trademark reasons released under the original working title Micropolis, also known as OLPC SimCity. | |
| Sissyfight 2000 Returns | 2014 | 2018 | Multiplayer | MIT | CC BY | Zimmerman, Clark, and Bhatnagar | On April 30, 2013, Zimmerman, Clark, and Bhatnagar announced a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to revive Sissyfight. The campaign was funded on May 30, 2013, with a final total of $22,735. First Beta versions were released 2014. On February 9, 2018, the source code was released under the open-source MIT license and the assets under the CC BY Creative Commons license on GitHub. | |
| Soldat | 2002 | 2020 | Run and gun | MIT | CC BY 4.0 | Team Soldat | Source code was released under MIT license on GitHub, assets followed shortly after under CC BY 4.0. | |
| Sopwith | 1984 | 2000 | Shoot 'em up | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | David L. Clark | The C and x86 assembly source code to Sopwith was released in 2000, at first under a non-commercial use license, but later under the GNU GPL at the request of fans. | |
| Stunt Copter | mid 1986 | ? | Arcade | Public domain software | Public domain | Duane Blehm / HomeTown Software | After Duane Blehm death in 1988, his parents released Stunt Copter's and his other games' binaries and source code into the public domain. | |
| Super Lemonade Factory | 2012 | 2012/2021 | Puzzle-platform | MIT/MIT—GPL-3.0-only | GPL-3.0-only | Initialsgames | Based on the Flixel engine developed for the iOS version of Canabalt, and inspired by it to release the source code, with the purpose of enabling source ports. The game was released as freeware on itch.io on February 2, 2021. The entire source code repository for the Ouya version was released under the GPL-3.0-only license on GitHub on February 4, 2021, to support the efforts for the preservation of Ouya games. | |
| Supernova | 1987 | 2009 | Text adventure | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-2.0-or-later | Apogee Software | Game source released on March 20, 2009. | |
| Triplane Turmoil | 1996 | 2009 | side-scrolling dogfighting flying game | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | Dodekaedron Software | In 1996 Triplane Turmoil was originally released as shareware DOS game. In 2009 Dodekaedron Software Creations Oy placed Triplane Turmoils source code, documentation, images and sounds under the GPLv3, hosted on SourceForge. The community continued the support and ported the game to other platforms via SDL. | |
| Tyrian | 1995 | 2007 | Scrolling shooter | GPLv2 | Freeware/CC BY 3.0 US | World Tree Games Productions / Epic MegaGames | The OpenTyrian team ported the closed-source Pascal code of Tyrian to C with permission of Jason Emery in February 2007. The graphic artist Daniel Cook released the artwork shortly after. | |
| VGA Civil War Strategy Game | 1995 | 2017 | turn based strategy | MIT | MIT | W. R. Hutsell | In 2017 Mr. Hutsell gave the source code of VGA Civil War Strategy Game to Dave Mackey, who ported the game for modern platforms with the help of SDL and other open-source libraries from QuickBASIC to QB64. The source code is released on GitHub under a MIT license. | |
| Voxelquest | 2014 | 2016 | open world simulation | MIT | MIT | Gavan Woolery | After a successful crowdfunding project on Kickstarter to develop an open-world simulation game in 2014, Gavan Woolery developed several iterations of the game's engine. After running out of funding for further development, he open-sourced with support of the backers the game's engine on github.com under MIT license in August 2016. | |
| Wander | 1974 | 2015 | Text adventure | public domain | public domain | Peter Langston | As of April 2015, the source code of Wander, one of the earliest mainframe text adventures, could be acquired from the original author. | |
| WaterRace | 2000 | 2014 | Racing game | GPLv2 | GPLv2, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | French Touch, SARL | In January 2014, Pierre-Olivier Latour, co-founder and CEO of French Touch, SARL, have uploaded the game's source code and assets on GitHub under the GPLv2 open-source license | |
| Warfare Incorporated | 2003 | 2014 | RTS | FreeBSD | BSD license | Spiffcode | In July 2014 the game's source code and content got open sourced with a BSD license under the name "Hostile Takeover" on GitHub. As result the game was ported by the game's community to alternative platforms like the Pandora handheld. | |
| Warzone 2100 | 1999 | 2004/2008 | RTS | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-2.0-or-later, CC | Pumpkin Studios/Eidos Interactive | 3D real-time strategy game with a unit design system. First source part was released by Pumpkin Studios/Eidos Interactive in 2004 and the rest was released in 2008. | |
| Word Whiz | 1988 | 2009 | Educational game | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-2.0-or-later | Apogee Software | Game source released on March 20, 2009. | |
| Worms? | 1983 | 2021 | software toy | MIT | MIT | David S. Maynard | The source code for Worms?, one of the initial Electronic Arts releases, was uploaded to GitHub by Kay Savetz on March 17, 2021, under the MIT license with permission of Maynard. | |
| Zork | 1977 | 1978 | Text adventure | Public domain software / MIT | Public domain | Robert M. Supnik / Infocom | Public domain software ports with source code based on the first "Dungeon" version of Zork, are available in various repositories. Also, Infocom allowed the distribution of the early Fortran version. Original version from MIT. On 20 November 2025, Microsoft released the source code for Zork, Zork II and Zork III under the MIT license. | |
| ZZT | 1991 | 2023 | Action-adventure puzzle | MIT | no artwork | Potomac Computer Systems | Originally thought to be lost, a source code backup for ZZT 3.0 surfaced and a modified version of it with third-party content removed was uploaded to GitHub by Adrian Siekierka, developer of Reconstruction of ZZT, under the MIT license with permission of Tim Sweeney, creator of the game. |
Open-source games with free of charge data
Only the game engines in this table are developed under an open-source license, which means that the reuse and modification of only the code is permitted. The assets are provided free of charge to the final user, but with some restrictions. Note that both the engine and the game code must be available under a license approved by the OSI and/or the FSF, if it was made with a licensed engine.| Title | First release | Source code release | Genre | Engine license | Content license | Original developer | Additional information |
| Allegiance | 2000 | 2004 | real-time strategy and Space combat simulator | MIT | Microsoft Research | Released by Microsoft Research under a shared source license 2004. On July 27, 2017, Microsoft Research changed the license from MSR shared source license to MIT license. | |
| Amulets & Armor | 1997 | 2013 | first person role-playing video game | GPL-3.0-only | United Software Artists | In 2013 Amulets & Armor was re-released as freeware on the game's official site and the source code under GPL-3.0-only on GitHub. Work continues for ports to newer systems and general bug fixes. | |
| Ares | 1996 | 2008 | Space Strategy video game | LGPLv3 | CC BY-NC-SA/CC BY-NC-ND/Freeware | Nathan Lamont/Bigger Planet Software | Released in 2008. Under continued development for modern systems as "Antares" via GitHub. |
| Avara | 1996 | 2016 | Shooter game | MIT | Ambrosia Software / Juri Munkki | The MacOS classic game became open source in 2016 when Munkki released the source code upon the game's 20th anniversary. | |
| Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space | 1993 | 2007 | Simulation | GPLv2 | Strategic Visions/Fritz Bronner | A port of Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space to modern operating systems. The license fell back to Bronner as he had a contract clause with Interplay stating that in case Interplay went bankrupt or no distribution happened for some time. | |
| Cart Life | 2011 | 2014 | Simulation | Artistic-2.0/MIT-like | Richard Hofmeier | In March 2014 the game was removed from all digital distributions and the source code and game was made available for free online, with Hofmeier saying he was finished supporting the game. His webpage went later offline but the source code was mirrored on GitHub. | |
| Corncob 3D | 1993 | 2016 | Flight simulator | Public domain software | Freeware | Pie in the Sky / Kevin Stokes | The game became around 2016 freeware and open source. |
| Dink Smallwood | 1997 | 2003 | Action RPG | Zlib inspired own license | Robinson Technologies | Source code published on July 17, 2003, from Seth Robinson. 2008 Artwork published under a Zlib license. In October 2017 the HD version became fully open source and freeware, too. The source code became available on GitHub shortly after. | |
| Glider 4.0 | 1991 | 2016 | Flight simulator | MIT | John Calhoun | On January 26, 2016, the source code for Glider 4.0 was uploaded to GitHub. | |
| Glider PRO | 1994 | 2016 | Flight simulator | GPL-2.0-only | John Calhoun | On January 27, 2016, the source code, graphics, and sound data for Glider PRO were released on GitHub with the source code being licensed under the GNU General Public License v2. | |
| Gloom | 1995 | 2017 | FPS | unlicense | "for historical purposes" | Black Magic | In January 2017 the assembly and BlitzBasic 2 source code of the Amiga Doom clone Gloom was released as public domain software under unlicense on GitHub. The assets were released "for historical and archiving purposes.". |
| Gunocide II | 2000 | 2001 | Galaga-like 2D shooter | GPLv2 | Alexander Bierbrauer and Oliver Weiler | Developed around 2000. After being succesless commercially published via a publisher, the game was released as freeware and under GPL. 2002 ported to Linux and hosted on SourceForge as "G2ex". | |
| H-Craft Championship | 2007 | 2015 | science fiction racing game | zlib license | Irrgheist | H-Craft Championship was developed by the independent game studio Irrgheist and released by Manifesto Games/Akella in 2007. In 2014, the developers released the game as freeware and the source code under the zlib license in February 2015. | |
| Haunts: The Manse Macabre | 2012 | 2012 | turn based strategy | BSD-3-Clause | CC BY-NC-SA | Rick Dakan | The 2012 with $29,000 crowdfunded and in Go programmed game was put on GitHub after the money for further development run out. While a volunteer keeps updating the almost finished prototype, the against the Go 1.0 API build game fails to compile with newer compilers and Go versions. |
| Hypercycles | 1995 | 2017 | Shooter | GPL-3.0-only | Bob Hays | Released in January 2017 on GitHub. As August 16, 2020, the repository was removed from GitHub. The code has been re-uploaded on GitHub | |
| Infinity | 2002 | 2016 | RPG | GPL-3.0-or-later | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | Affinix Software | Developed in 2002 as commercial Game Boy Color title the game was never published. Infinity was released as non-commercial freeware with source code in August 2016, and after a successful Kickstarter campaign in August 2021, development was restarted by Incube8 Games. |
| Iron Seed | 1994 | 2013 | Space trading and combat simulator | GPLv3 | Channel 7 | Released as freeware by the authors to promote the development of Iron Seed 2 in the 2000s. Source opened under the GPL by the developers in 2013. | |
| Magic Land Island | 2011 | 2012 | Casual game | MIT | CC BY-NC-SA | Wooga | Magic Land Island was launched during the GDC Europe in August 2011. In June 2012 the HTML5 game was open sourced under the name Pocket Island on GitHub under MIT license and with the assets under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-SA. |
| Marathon 2: Durandal | 1995 | 2000 | FPS | GPLv2 | Bungie | Released by Bungie on January 17, 2000. | |
| Marathon Infinity | 1996 | 2011 | FPS | GPL-3.0-or-later | CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 | Bungie | Released by Bungie in 2011. |
| Meridian 59 | 1995 | 2012 | MMORPG | GPL-2.0-only | Archetype Interactive | As of February 2010 Meridian 59 has been turned over to the original technical developers, Andrew and Chris Kirmse. On September 15, 2012, they released the game to the public as Freeware and most of the source code under the GPLv2 license. | |
| The Pit Puzzle | 1997 | 2011 | Puzzle game | Apache-2.0 | Freeware | Abe Pralle / Plasmaworks | The DOS game source code was released around 2011 by the author Abe Pralle under Apache 2.0 License on GitHub. |
| Postal | 1997 | 2016 | Top-down shooter | GPL-2.0-only | Running with Scissors | In 2015 the Running with Scissors developers announced that they will release the source code of the game "if someone promises to port it to the Dreamcast." In June 2016 the developers gave the source code to a community developer who ported the game to Linux for the OpenPandora handheld. On December 28, 2016, the source code was released on Bitbucket under the GPLv2. | |
| Project Starfighter | 2001 | 2008 | Shoot 'em up | GPLv2 | Parallel Realities | ||
| Star Control II | 1992 | 2002 | Action RPG | GPLv2 | CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 | Toys for Bob | Source code of the 3DO version GPL-released in 2002. |
| Star Ruler 2 | 2015 | 2018 | Real-time strategy, 4X | MIT | CC BY-NC 2.0 | Blind Mind Studios | Released on GitHub as an open-source project, including assets under the CC BY-NC on July 22, 2018. |
| Starshatter: The Gathering Storm | 2004 | 2011 | Space combat simulator | New BSD License | Destroyer Studios / Matrix Games | Source code released by Destroyer Studios/Matrix Games on December 14, 2011. | |
| Strange Adventures in Infinite Space | 2002 | 2005/2009 | Space Roguelike | GPL-3.0-or-later | CC BY-NC 4.0 | Digital Eel | Source was released under GPL by Digital Eel in 2005. Content became freeware 2009. License changed to GPLv3 and assets to CC BY-NC-4.0 on May 18, 2020. |
| Team 47 GoMan | 1997 | 1998 | Mech game | Public-domain software | 47-TEK | Released artwork and source code to public in May 1998. As of March 2022, source code has been uploaded to . | |
| Tread Marks | 2000 | 2017 | Tank Combat/Racing | GPL-3.0-or-later | Longbow Digital Arts / Seumas McNally | Won in 2000 the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. On January 20, 2017 the source code was released as open source on github.com and the game itself as freeware. A port to Linux and MacOS is in progress. In September 2017 a version for the Linux-based OpenPandora was released. | |
| Tribal Trouble | 2005 | 2014 | RTS | GPLv2 | Oddlabs | In September 2014 the game's source code was released to the public on GitHub and is now open source under the GPLv2. Development continues in a community fork. | |
| Tribes 2 | 2001 | 2012 | FPS | MIT/Proprietary | Dynamix | Many commercial titles were developed using the Torque engine. GarageGames released Torque 3D under the MIT License on September 20, 2012. The Tribes 2 source code beside the Torque engine is not available. |
Open-source games without assets
Only the game engines in this table are developed under an open-source license, which means that the reuse and modification of only the code is permitted. The assets are not provided for free and must be bought by the final user. Note that both the engine and the game code must be available under a license approved by the OSI and/or the FSF, if it was made with a licensed engine.| Title | First release | Source code release | Genre | Engine license | Original developer | Additional information |
| Age of Pirates: Captain Blood | 2010 | 2022 | Action-adventure game / Hack and slash | GPL-3.0-or-later | 1C: Seawolf Studio | Source code of game engine was released on GitHub under GPLv3 on November 28, 2022. |
| Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships | 2009 | 2021 | Role-playing game | GPL-3.0-or-later | Akella | Source code of Storm Engine released on GitHub under GPLv3 in a 2021 and support Sea Dogs: To Each His Own and Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships. |
| Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs | 2013 | 2020 | Survival horror | GPL-3.0-or-later | The Chinese Room | On September 23, 2020, Frictional Games released the source code for this game. Source code was released on GitHub under the GPLv3. |
| Amnesia: The Dark Descent | 2010 | 2020 | Survival horror | GPL-3.0-or-later | Frictional Games | On September 23, 2020, Frictional Games released the source code for this game on its 10th release anniversary. Source code was released on GitHub under the GPLv3. |
| Analogue: A Hate Story | 2012 | 2013 | Visual novel | MIT/Public-domain software—Proprietary | Love Conquers All Games | Developed using the Ren'Py engine, the game code for Analogue: A Hate Story was released on May 4, 2013, under a public-domain-equivalent license. The source code release includes the entire script of the game for context, but the script remains proprietary. |
| Arx Fatalis | 2002 | 2011 | RPG | GPL-3.0-or-later | Arkane Studios | The design of Arx Fatalis was heavily influenced by Ultima Underworld. Game source released by Arkane Studios on January 14, 2011. Based upon this source code the formed Arx Libertatis-project created Fan-made patches and Source ports. |
| Aquaria | 2007 | 2010 | Action-adventure | GPL-2.0-or-later | Bit Blot | Open sourced with Humble Indie Bundle. |
| Blake Stone: Planet Strike | 1994 | 2013 | FPS | GPL-2.0-or-later | Apogee Software | Released in 2013 to promote the sale of the Apogee Throwback Pack on Steam. |
| Brány Skeldalu | 1998 | 2008–2025 | Dungeon crawler role-playing video game | GPL-3.0-or-later / MIT | Napoleon Games | On 19 November 2007 the game was made freeware by Napoleon Games. On January 14, 2008, the source code was uploaded to SourceForge under the GPL-3.0-or-later license. On April 30, 2025, the game was commercially re-released on Steam; on May 20, 2025, the source code for this re-released version was released under the MIT license on GitHub. |
| Canabalt | 2009 | 2010 | Cinematic platformer | MIT/Proprietary | Adam Saltsman | Released by Adam Saltsman in 2010. On February 7, 2024, the full source code for an improved version of the original Canabalt ported to HaxeFlixel with support for Windows, macOS, Linux and HTML5 by Cameron Taylor was released on GitHub under the same license, with authorization of Finji. |
| Catacomb | 1989 | 2014 | Top-down shooter | GPL-2.0-or-later | Flat Rock Software | Released by Flat Rock Software on June 5, 2014, on GitHub. |
| Catacomb 3D | 1991 | 2014 | FPS | GPL-2.0-or-later | Flat Rock Software / id Software | Released by Flat Rock Software on June 5, 2014, on GitHub. |
| The Colony | 1988 | 2023 | FPS | Apache-2.0 | Dave Smith | Source code for the PC, Mac and Amiga versions released by Smith on GitHub on June 6, 2023, with the source code under the Apache License 2.0. |
| Command & Conquer and Command & Conquer: Red Alert | 1995/1996 | 2020 | RTS | GPL-3.0-or-later | Westwood Studios | The games' code was released along with the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection in order to aid in the development of mods. It can be used to build mods for the remaster, but due to some missing bits that are substituted by the remaster's own engine, it can not be used to directly re-build the original games from them. The original, full source code to both games was later released on February 27, 2025. |
| Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour | 2005 | 2025 | RTS | GPL-3.0-or-later | EA Los Angeles | Released by Electronic Arts on February 27, 2025. |
| Command & Conquer: Renegade | 2002 | 2025 | First and third-person shooter | GPL-3.0-or-later | Westwood Studios | Released by Electronic Arts on February 27, 2025. |
| Commander Keen in Keen Dreams | 1991 | 2014 | Platformer | GPL-2.0-or-later | id Software | In September 2014, after an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, the game's source code was released on GitHub. |
| CoreBreach | 2011 | 2012 | Racing game | MIT/GPL-2.0-only | CoreCode | Futuristic "anti-gravity" racing game with combat. Source was released after a sales quota was met. |
| Cortex Command | 2012 | 2019 | Action game | AGPL-3.0-only | Data Realms LLC | The indie game was in development since 2001, which won an IGF award in 2009, was finally released in 2012. In July 2019 the source code was released under AGPL-3.0-only on GitHub. As of end of 2019 the work on a community continuation, dubbed "Cortex-Command-Community-Project", is ongoing. |
| Delver | 2012 | 2018 | First-person action roguelike dungeon crawl | Apache-2.0/zlib | Priority Interrupt | Developed using the libGDX framework; on November 15, 2018, Chad Cuddigan released the source code under the GPLv2. Changed to a modified version of the zlib license on November 23, 2018, and changed to the regular zlib license on September 21, 2020. |
| Descent 3 | 1999 | 2024 | FPS | GPL-3.0-or-later | Outrage Entertainment | On April 16, 2024, Kevin Bentley released the source code for Descent 3 on GitHub, under authorization of Matt Toschlog, co-owner of the copyright holder of the game. |
| Doom | 1995 | 2014 | FPS | MIT | Logicware | On November 30, 2014, the source code of the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer port of the game was released by Rebecca Heineman under an MIT license, a different license than the Doom version for Linux, and the Atari Jaguar port. |
| Doom and Doom II: Hell on Earth | 1993/1994 | 1997/1999 | FPS | GPL-2.0-or-later | Id Software | Game source released on December 23, 1997, placed under GPL-2.0-or-later on October 3, 1999. |
| Doom | 1995 | 2020 | FPS | GPL-3.0-or-later | Sculptured Software | On July 14, 2020, Randy Linden uploaded the source code for his Super Nintendo Entertainment System conversion of Doom to GitHub. |
| Doom 3 | 2004 | 2011 | FPS | GPL-3.0-or-later | Id Software | Game source released on November 22, 2011. |
| Doom 3: BFG Edition | 2012 | 2012 | FPS | GPL-3.0-or-later | Id Software | Source code released on November 26, 2012, on GitHub. |
| DROD series | 1997 | 2000 | Puzzle game | MPLv1.1 | Webfoot / Erik Hermansen | After the author reacquired the rights to the game from the original publisher Webfoot, he released the source code of the game engines. The source code releases include DROD: King Dugan's Dungeon, DROD: Journey to Rooted Hold, DROD: The City Beneath, DROD: Gunthro and the Epic Blunder, DROD: The Second Sky, and DROD RPG: Tendry's Tale without its media assets. |
| Eldritch | 2013 | 2014 | FPS, roguelike | zlib License | Minor Key Games | In April 2014, the game's source code was released to the public under a permissive zlib license. Content still proprietary and game being sold. |
| Flotilla | 2010 | 2020 | 3d tactic game | Ms-PL/zlib | Blendo Games | Indie game developer Blendo games released the source code to Flotilla on its 10th release anniversary. The source code is Zlib licensed on GitHub, but assets are not included. |
| Gish | 2004 | 2010 | Action | GPL-2.0-or-later | Cryptic Sea | Source opened with Humble Indie Bundle by Wolfire Games. |
| Glypha III | 1990s | 2016 | Arcade | MIT | John Calhoun | On January 27, 2016, the source code, graphics, and sound data for Glypha III were released on GitHub with the source code being licensed under the MIT License. Updated ports for MacOs and iPhone were created afterward. A cross-platform OpenGL based port was released around May 2018 on GitHub. |
| Good Robot | 2016 | 2020 | Multidirectional shooter | MIT | Pyrodactyl Games | On August 3, 2020, Arvind Raja Yadav from Pyrodactyl Games released the source code for three of their games under the MIT License on GitHub. |
| Hammerfight | 2009 | 2011 | 2D physic based combat game | zlib license | Konstantin Koshutin | For the third Humble Indie Bundle Ryan C. Gordon ported the underlying game engine, "Haaf's Game Engine", to Linux and Mac OS X, and released source code under the zlib license. Relish Games released the original version of HGE 1.8.1 for Windows/DirectX to GitHub under zlib license, too. |
| Heretic | 1994 | 1999 | FPS | GPL-2.0-only | Raven Software | Game source released on January 11, 1999, under a very restrictive license, relicensed to GPL on September 4, 2008. The ACC script compiler was not included in the GPL re-release. |
| Hexen: Beyond Heretic | 1995 | 1999 | FPS | GPL-2.0-only | Raven Software | Game source released on January 11, 1999, under a very restrictive license, relicensed to GPL on September 4, 2008. The ACC script compiler was not included in the GPL re-release. |
| Hexen II | 1997 | 2000 | FPS | GPL-2.0-only | Raven Software | Game source released on November 10, 2000. |
| Hovertank 3D | 1991 | 2014 | FPS | GPL-2.0-or-later | Flat Rock Software/id Software | Released by Flat Rock Software on June 5, 2014, on GitHub. |
| Lemma | 2014 | 2014 | Voxel FPS open world parcour | MIT | Evan Todd | Despite an unsuccessful crowdfunding campaign in 2014, Lemma was released commercially by the developer DRM-free and also on Steam. The source code is openly developed and available on GitHub under a MIT license. |
| Little Big Adventure and Little Big Adventure 2 | 1994/1997 | 2021 | Action-adventure | GPL-2.0-only | Adeline Software International | Source code released on GitHub under the GPL-2.0-only license by 2.21, the current copyright holders. |
| Machines: Wired for War | 1999 | 2020 | Real-time strategy | GPL-3.0-or-later | Charybdis/Nightdive Studios | The game was released by the new rights holder Nightdive Studios in 2020. The source code is under GPLv3 on GitHub. The assets are available too from the original developer's webpage. |
| Monster RPG 2 | 2010 | 2012 | JRPG | zlib License | Nooskewl | After a successful Indiegogo campaign, released by Nooskewl under a Public domain like license on November 11, 2012. Later changed to zlib license, and the content sold again to be able to pay the server bills. |
| Myst Online: Uru Live | 2007 | 2010 | MMORPG | GPLv3 | Cyan Worlds | "Myst Online: Uru Live" struggled to attract subscribers and was canceled after its first year. Cyan release the game as an open source game in 2010. |
| Natural Selection | 2002 | 2014 | FPS | GPLv2 / custom | Unknown Worlds Entertainment | In January 2014 Unknown Worlds released the source code for download on GitHub. |
| The Operative: No One Lives Forever | 2000 | 2010 | FPS | GPL | Monolith Productions | In 2001, Monolith Productions released a set of editing tools for No One Lives Forever that included the level editor and model editor used for development. The team also released the source code for NOLF that year to "support the fan base by offering the tools to create their own levels". It is available both as a download, as well as on the Game of the Year Edition CD-ROM. Years later around 2013 Lithtech source code became available on GitHub under GPL, and work for merging game code and engine started. |
| No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way | 2002 | 2011 | FPS | GPLv2 | Monolith Productions | Source code released by Monolith Productions/Sierra Entertainment as part of a modding toolkit. |
| Overgrowth | 2017 | 2022 | Action | Apache-2.0 | Wolfire Games | On April 21, 2022, Wolfire Games released the source code to Overgrowth on GitHub under the Apache License 2.0. |
| Pararena 2 | 1992 | 2016 | Action sport game | MIT | John Calhoun | On January 27, 2016, the source code was released on GitHub licensed under the MIT license. |
| Penumbra: Overture | 2007 | 2009 | Survival horror with FPS aspects | GPL-3.0-or-later | Frictional Games | Developed by Swedish developer Frictional Games, the game blends the genres of survival horror, first-person shooter, and adventure. Open sourced with Humble Indie Bundle. |
| Quake | 1996 | 1999 | FPS | GPL-2.0-or-later | Id Software | Game source released on December 21, 1999. |
| Quake II | 1997 | 2001 | FPS | GPL-2.0-or-later | Id Software | Game source released on December 22, 2001. |
| Quake III Arena | 1999 | 2005 | FPS | GPL-2.0-or-later | Id Software | Game source released on August 19, 2005. |
| Quake 4 | 2005 | 2021 | FPS | GPL-2.0-or-later | Raven Software | Adapted to the GPL id Tech 4 source code from Doom 3 with some issues remaining. |
| Raptor: Call of the Shadows | 1994 | 2023 | Scrolling shooter | GPL-2.0-or-later | Cygnus Studios | DOS version source code released on October 1, 2023, on GitHub. |
| Red Dog: Superior Firepower | 2000 | 2022 | Shooter | MIT | Argonaut Games | Source code uploaded on GitHub on September 26, 2022, under the MIT license by Matt Godbolt under authorization of Jez San, founder of Argonaut Games. |
| Return to Castle Wolfenstein | 2001 | 2010 | FPS | GPL-3.0-or-later | Gray Matter Studios/Nerve Software | The source code for Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Enemy Territory was released under the GNU General Public License on August 12, 2010. |
| Revenge of the Titans | 2010 | 2011 | Tower Defense, RTS | BSD-3-Clause | Puppy Games | Java based game. Source code was released by Puppy Games with the success of the second Humble Indie Bundle. |
| Rise of the Triad | 1994 | 2002 | FPS | GPL-2.0-or-later | Apogee Software/3D Realms | Game source released on December 20, 2002. |
| Serious Sam | 2001 | 2016 | FPS | GPL-2.0-only | Croteam | In March 2016, Croteam released Serious Engine v1.10 as free and open-source software on GitHub under the GNU General Public License. |
| Seven Kingdoms II | 1999 | 2009 | RTS | GPLv2 | Enlight | Source code released in August, 2009. |
| Shogo: Mobile Armor Division | 1998 | 1998 | FPS | GPL | Monolith Productions | In 1998, SDK released the game logic for modders. The Lithtech engine was not included as source code. Around 2013, Lithtech's source code became available on GitHub under the GPL, and the work of merging the game logic and the engine started. As of the end of 2019, this reworked NOLF2/LithTech engine reached a buildable state under Windows, and the work continues. |
| Siege of Avalon | 2000 | 2003 | RPG | LGPL | Digital Tome | Source code released June 23, 2003. Later one of the original developers announced the preparation of a re-release of SOA, but nothing came out of it. In September 2017 a community developer managed to fix the dependencies of the Open source release, recompile the executable, fixing several bugs and introducing higher resolution support for the game. |
| Soul Ride | 2000 | 2003 | Snow board simulation/sport game | GPLv2 | Slingshot Game Technology | On 20 Jan 2003 Soul Ride's game engine source code was released to allow ports to alternative OSes. |
| Spacebase DF-9 | 2013 | 2015 | Space simulator | CPAL | Double Fine | After Double Fine ended the support of the controversy ridden and incomplete game on end of 2014, fans have been working to continue the game's development with the availability of the source code in May 2015 under the CPAL open-source license. First patch became available in October 2015. |
| Spear of Destiny | 1992 | 1995 | FPS | GPL-2.0-or-later | id Software | The source code of Wolfenstein 3D, which also covered Spear of Destiny, was released on July 21, 1995. |
| Spectromancer | 2008 | 2020 | Turn-based strategy | BSD-3-Clause/Proprietary | Three Donkeys LLC/Apus Software | On March 4, 2020, Ivan Polyacov from Apus Software released the source code to the Apus Game Engine, the in-house game engine by Apus Software used for Spectromancer and Astral Heroes after reaching the $50 tier on his Patreon. The game code to Astral Towers was also released to patrons. |
| Speed Haste | 1995 | 2012 | racing video game | public domain like license | Javier Arevalo Baeza | In 2012 the game's developer Javier Arevalo Baeza released the Borland C source code for "you can do whatever you want with this code" on GitHub. |
| Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast | 2002 | 2013 | First/Third-person shooter | GPL-2.0-only | Raven Software | Release of the source code by Raven Software and Activision coincided with the closing of LucasArts by Disney. |
| Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy | 2003 | 2013 | First/Third-person shooter | GPL-2.0-only | Raven Software | Release of the source code by Raven Software and Activision coincided with the closing of LucasArts by Disney. |
| System Shock | 1994 | 2018 | FPS | GPL-3.0-or-later | Night Dive Studios | In April 2018 the Mac version's source code was released by Night Dive on GitHub, fulfilling a 2016 promise. After one month of development, a cross-platform source port, called "Shockolate", for modern compilers and platforms was released by community developer Chad Cuddigan. |
| To Heart 2 | 2004 | 2006 | Visual novel | GPLv2 | Aquaplus | Its source code was released by Aquaplus under the GNU General Public License on December 22, 2005, along with the source code for Arurū to Asobo!!, Tears to Tiara, and Kusari. This decision was made due to the inclusion of Xvid derived code; Xvid being distributed under the same license. The source code for all four games is distributed upon request in CD-R format. A copy of the original source code is hosted on GitHub, as also an continued engine project. |
| To the Moon | 2011 | 2014 | role-playing game | GPL-2.0-or-later | Freebird Games | To the Moon was developed using RPG Maker XP engine in 2011. In January 2014 To the Moon was also released for OS X and Linux with the Humble Bundle X. Edward Rudd ported the game with the GPLv2 RPG Maker XP game engine recreation MKXP, other ports followed later. Also a successor game by Freebird games, "A Bird Story", was ported to Linux under usage of MKXP. |
| Toki Tori 2+ | 2013 | 2021 | puzzle platform game | GPL-2.0-only | Two Tribes | On December 17, 2021, Two Tribes released the source code to their in-house engine used for games like Toki Tori 2+ and Rive under the GPL-2.0-only license on GitHub. |
| Unrest | 2014 | 2020 | Role-playing video game | MIT | Pyrodactyl Games | On August 3, 2020, Arvind Raja Yadav from Pyrodactyl Games released the source code for three of their games under the MIT License on GitHub. |
| Urban Chaos | 1999 | 2017 | Action-adventure game | MIT | Mucky Foot | In May 2017 Mucky Foot's Mike Diskett released the source code of Urban Chaos under the MIT license on GitHub. |
| Vangers | 1998 | 2016 | racing and role-playing genre | GPLv3 | K-D Lab | In March 2016, Vangers source code was released under GPLv3 license. Data was not freed though, so one still needs data files from Steam or GOG.com released in order to run the game. |
| Perimeter | 2005 | 2021 | Real time strategy game | GPLv3 | K-D Lab | |
| Wolfenstein 3D | 1992 | 1995 | FPS | GPL-2.0-or-later | id Software | The source code of Wolfenstein 3D, which also covered Spear of Destiny, was released on July 21, 1995. |
| Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory | 2003 | 2010 | FPS | GPL-3.0-or-later | Splash Damage/id Software | Game source released on August 12, 2010. |
| World in Conflict | 2007 | 2017 | Real time strategy game | GPL-2.0-or-later | Ubisoft | Game source released in 2017 by ubisoft after support ended in 2014. |