“Open source software and code pops up within the game industry
in numerous ways. On one end of the spectrum there are, of course,
the open source games that many of us know and love like FreeCiv
and Tux Racer. On the other end are the proprietary games whose
source has been opened such as Quake III and other games from Id
Software. In the middle are games that might incorporate open
source software either within them where legally possible, in the
operating systems they run on–some Massively Multiplayer Online
RolePlaying Game (MMORPG) worlds run on Linux and the various free
BSDs for example, or were built using open source tools.“While attending a Women in Games International event, the
opportunity to discuss open source with people actually in the
industry came up. Among the attendees were a good cross-section of
artists, programmers, publishers, managers, and more, some already
in the industry, some going to school in order to build their
skills, and some hoping to step over from their current jobs into
games…”