I think the problem with FOSS games tends to be that they get started for the wrong reasons. Like, most of them spawn from "it'd be neat to make a game like X"

I think the problem with FOSS games tends to be that they get started for the wrong reasons. Like, most of them spawn from "it'd be neat to make a game like X" and "I believe in FOSS". That's fine, but when you get into the gritty details of making a game, it's /really fricking hard/. To actually finish something takes an enormous amount of passion and dedication. And people that put in that level of passion and dedication usually don't just want to give away their work for free after that much struggle. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that FOSS people lack passion or anything like that, it's just that for your average non-game FOSS project you usually start by scratching a small itch, and then if it other people like your itch-scratcher, momentum grows. Or if nobody likes it, you abandon it with minimal time lost. A game takes a lot more upfront investment before you have anything to show.