'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Clockwork Laboratories’ MMO BitCraft has been in the works for seven years, but in 2025, the developers made a huge reveal: that it’s going open-source. As a community-led game, players literally shape this world, for good or ill. Starting with nothing, players can come together and create vast bases and cities on this world, but it will soon be more accessible than perhaps ever before.
This is more than simply giving people access to the code to help hunt down bugs or correct performance issues, though that may wind up being a result. In a way, it’s also to help inspire other potential MMO developers. There are plenty of would-be developers with a great idea, but no idea how to put it together, but the open-source code of BitCraft could go a long way to help those people out.
Trending
BitCraft reveals plans to go open-source, to make MMOs more accessible
Back on April 28, 2025, Alessandro at Clockwork Laboratories made the huge reveal that BitCraft, an open-world survival MMO, would be going “open-source.” It’s certainly a massive move, as I can’t think of any commercially available MMO that allows players to look at the code, modify it, and create their own projects with it.
This was common back in the MUD (multi-user dungeon) days, with hundreds, if not thousands of MUDs based on particular codebases — many of which are still playable today. Their decision was made based on three very important reasons:
- To make the MMO genre more accessible
- They feel BitCraft will benefit from open-source collaboration/exploration
- To give something back to the community
While there are certainly plenty of MMOs out there, the majority of the successful ones are backed by huge companies like Blizzard Entertainment and Square Enix. The entry barrier when developing an MMO as an indie/small-time developer is enormous. There’s so much to know, do, and prepare for. Now, through BitCraft’s open-source move, players will have unfettered access to understand how to design an MMO.
There's another reason why BitCraft’s developers feel open-source access will benefit the game, and I’m inclined to agree. As they pointed out in their blog post, it could lead to bugs and performance issues being fixed. On top of that, players could design incredible content that could find its way into the game as well. This is a game designed to be fully shaped by the players, and why not give them access to show what they can do with the code itself?
Last, but certainly not least, they want to give back to the MMO community. It could be seen as a dangerous move to open-source BitCraft like this. After all, an enterprising player could take what they’ve done, build upon it, and create their own world-shaking MMO. It’s certainly possible. The developers pointed out that they’ve benefited from open source development as a game, and they want to pass something on:
“We’ve benefited tremendously from this ecosystem, and we believe it’s only right to give something back. But more than that: we genuinely believe that open ecosystems produce better software. They encourage transparency, creativity, and collaboration. Problems get solved faster. Communities form. Innovation happens in the open.”
What does this ultimately mean? The developers aren’t licensing or open-sourcing the game’s assets at this moment. That means art, music, and the IP are still protected. However, the code that makes it run is public. It’s not known what license they will open-source the game’s code with, but it will be an OSI-approved open source license.
You will have the power to download the code, modify it, share it with friends, create your servers, build mods, or even start working on your own game. It’s not available right now, though. Only when the developers are happy with the state of the game will they open-source BitCraft officially.
As someone who ran their own MUD back in the early 2000s, based on a version of the GodWars codebase, this is exciting to see. There are several people in my personal life who would benefit enormously from taking a look at how this game works.
