[Shivetya]

Well one issue is that an online game may be subject to multiple licenses. One example I do know of is Asheron's Call. There were some attempts to get it and its sequel. However there were licenses to Microsoft to consider and other third parties. Hence the "owner" of the game could not simply turn it over to the public.

I know, just rip out what is otherwise covered by another license or copyright. Well not only would that take time but it may leave the code in a state beyond repair.

[manicdee]

I think the point of claiming a code base abandoned would be to strip rights from rights holders for property they do not show any intention of servicing.

You contributed to AC2? That’s great! The game is now abandoned, you have no rights to that code anymore.

To maintain your rights you either maintain the game in a serviceable state, or deploy your server technology as an API rather than integrating it into the client.

So an AC2 server needs certain IP to work? You can license that IP as a product or publish the API and contracts, allowing third parties to emulate that IP.

[icebraining]

So an AC2 server needs certain IP to work? You can license that IP as a product or publish the API and contracts, allowing third parties to emulate that IP.

Not all codebases have a clean separation between "own code" and "third-party code". If the AC2 devs licensed a commercial engine and then heavily modified it, the abandoned IP is still a derivative work of non-abandoned IP.