They would ruin the profit of the game when releasing the source code, people could just download it and compile a version of their own....
Though I'd like to see a level editor, maybe even some modding options later on
Viewing post in Can you put the source code with the game
Honestly how many people (even techy people) have the patience/knowledge to compile source code?
They could quite literally lose near-zero sales if they were to do so but I'm curious why there's such a movement on itch that demands indie devs to open-source their work. Game devs are under ZERO obligation/requirement to open-source anything for any reason or no reason.
I'm a huge FOSS advocate but I am also much more respectful about it than most people do. The dorks being rude about it give all of FOSS a bad impression. :(
That said, I am happy the devs have contributed as much as they have to open-sourcing portions of the game and engine.
The sad reality is that the majority of these open-source releases tend to be used/abused/plagiarized by other companies/competitors more than they benefit the actual FOSS community. I don't blame any dev that chooses to keep things close(d) to the source ;)
I compiled sourcecode myself to save 15 € for Aseprite. But it's pretty much the only Software I know that uses this specific combination of Open-Source and paid.
Agreed though, code is intellectual property, and as much as I appreciate Free and Open-Source Software, if someone doesn't want to share something they've put hours of work into in for free, I fully respect that.