Only open source games can provide true freedom.
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) once called out and criticized “closed-source games”:
Microsoft monitors Minecraft players by forcing account registration
Genshin Impact contains addictive loot box elements
Sony uses software updates to prevent players from installing Linux on the PS3
1. FSF’s theory of game addiction#
The FSF’s philosophy is to promote free software, meaning the code must be open source, distributable, and reusable, and modifiers must also open source their modifications. Specific examples include LibreOffice and Minetest. By contrast, closed-source software is proprietary software. Users cannot modify it themselves, such as Microsoft Office and Minecraft.
Games also count as software, so the FSF hopes users can support open source games. On its website, it criticizes the harms of closed-source software and extends that into a series of psychological theories: namely the “addictive elements” of closed-source game software. Malicious functions can turn proprietary game software into “malware games”.
*The formal name for closed-source software is proprietary software. For ease of understanding, I will still use the term closed source below.
Starting from the argument against closed-source software, the FSF draws out issues such as addiction and personal privacy. It even created a “malware in games” list for this: Malware in Games - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation
The FSF believes closed-source games have the following addictive properties: “gambling elements” and “virtual socialization”.
Real examples of gambling include gacha, namely card draws, which, like loot boxes, are elements that entice people into excessive spending. There are also “speed-up items” that help players quickly achieve goals, but in reality do not increase returns. Worse, some games let players spend money to bypass the tedious act of “farming gear”. In national war-style games, the beginning is easy, but the growth curve then slows down. Players have to keep investing in equipment to keep up with others, and if they do not log in often, their things may be looted clean by enemies.
Virtual socialization binds a player’s daily life to the game and turns it into a fixed habit pattern. Random reward elements in the game, along with “likes” and invitations sent by friends, make the game addictive. These games send notifications to users every day to attract their attention, similar to the principle of smartphone addiction.
All of these elements make it easier for developers to control (manipulate) players. Apart from these addictive elements, closed-source software may also secretly monitor players through programs under excuses such as anti-cheat, obstructing player freedom. Or it may use DRM, remote verification, and similar methods to decide whether players can continue playing games they purchased.
Therefore, the FSF believes that if a game is free software, then people have other choices. They can modify the game themselves, and control their own rights.
Here is a list of free software games: https://libregamewiki.org/List_of_games
After playing some open source games, my personal opinion is that open source single-player games are fairly diverse and have a certain community size, but large online multiplayer games are relatively rare.
One more note: in some free game software, the code portion is open source, but the art assets use Creative Commons licenses to protect the rights of the original authors.
2. References#
Proprietary Addictions - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation
