Freelancer Source Code

Question

Okay, I've been trying for about a year on this with essentially no progress. Last year, I attempted to find out information on who/what exactly owns the source code to the 2003 game "Freelancer." For some reason, most tickets kept thinking I was referring to Minecraft. When I finally did get an answer, I was told it was part of the "Xbox Division," and they didn't seem to know what I was talking about either.

The game I am referring to - Freelancer - is around 13 years old at this point, is completely unsupported (no website, and no matchmaking server,) and no money is made off of it as it is not sold in physical or digital means. Further more, almost no one at Microsoft seems to know what I am talking about. It's as if the game is lost in some abyss somewhere with no info at all on it.

What's the deal here? In my opinion, the game should be open sourced already like the non-Microsoft-affiliated Descent I/II or Freespace I/II. I can't see how this could possibly be problematic as there is no way money is being made off of this product (not even IP lawsuits,) and no one even seems to have a vague idea what it is.

The game still has a niche following, and releasing the source code would allow us to optimizing it for multicore processors or extended modding. What's preventing this? Legal issues? Technicalities? Cluelessness? It'd be nice to get a solid answer that is not "recheck in with the Xbox division," or something about Minecraft.)

Thanks.

Answer 1

2nd this. It's about time for Microsoft to release source code for Freelancer.

Answer 2

Microsoft no longer publishes/sells it directly, and those are either used copies, are new-old-stock copies. If Microsoft were directly selling it (in which case, people would not be asking $100 for it,) then I would count that as active.

I was not discounting the issue about there being a small player base and demand for it, but rather frustrated at the lack of info I have been able to gather on the product. As Digital Anvil was resolved, Microsoft is the next point of contact for at least gathering some information on who/what controls the source. I'd expect at least someone knows what happened to it at least so I could possibly get a lead, but it seems like any info Microsoft had has vanished (which is frustrating.)

The main reason I posted on here was to at least get a clear answer as to who controls what, or to at least get some acknowledgement from someone who might have been associated with it at Microsoft.

Answer 3

Microsoft has released source code for several of its products.

https://github.com/microsoft/dotnet

Answer 4

2nd this. It's about time for Microsoft to release source code for Freelancer.

Have you ever known of Microsoft releasing source code for anything?

MS-DOS and 1983 Word. They could do it again.

Answer 5

The game I am referring to - Freelancer - is around 13 years old at this point, is completely unsupported (no website, and no matchmaking server,) and no money is made off of it as it is not sold in physical or digital means. Further more, almost no one at Microsoft seems to know what I am talking about. It's as if the game is lost in some abyss somewhere with no info at all on it.

The game isstill being sold.   You have described it as having a "niche following," which means next to no one is concerned about it.  While this might bolster your contention that releasing the code should present no issues, the game wasn't developed by Microsoft although MS did acquire the developer later on.  This presents problems, not the least of which might be licensed components of the code; in other words, MS might not own the code in its entirety.  Add to that the legal expense of releasing the code and the minuscule user base and it's not hard to understand why releasing the code might not be the walk in the park you think it is.