Indie Developer Cellar Door Games Releases Rogue Legacy 1 Source Code

Game Assets Remain Proprietary, But Collaboration is Encouraged

Cellar Door Games, the developer behind the popular 2013 roguelike, Rogue Legacy, has made a significant move towards open knowledge sharing by releasing the game's source code to the public. The code is available for free download via GitHub, under a specific, non-commercial license. As the developers stated on Twitter (X), this decision, made over a decade after the game's release, is driven by a commitment to fostering learning and innovation within the game development community.

The GitHub repository, managed by developer Ethan Lee, provides access to all the game's scripting. This generous act has been met with widespread praise on social media, offering valuable learning opportunities for aspiring game developers. The release also serves as a crucial step in digital game preservation, ensuring the game's continued accessibility even if it's removed from digital storefronts. This proactive approach has even caught the attention of Andrew Borman, Director of Digital Preservation at the Rochester Museum of Play, who expressed interest in collaborating with Cellar Door Games.

It's important to note that while the source code is freely available, game assets such as art, graphics, and music remain under proprietary license and are not included. However, Cellar Door Games encourages contact for anyone interested in using assets outside the scope of the provided license or incorporating elements not included in the released repository. Their stated goal is to facilitate learning, inspire new projects, and enable the creation of tools and modifications for Rogue Legacy 1.