[Telaneo]

> Have there been commercially successful free software games?

Going by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open-source_video_game... , yes, although probably not to any helpful extent (and some of those are FOSS now, but weren't when released).

2048 had in-game ads that you could buy your way out of. You couldn't just install the ad-free version, because iOS is locked down. You could on Android, but not everyone is tech-savvy enough to actually do that.

[usef-]

Oh yes, I know open source games existed, but did any raise enough to pay wages of a team?

ps. I personally played Threes first, which 2048 copied without the style and made free. I admit I was slightly disappointed for the original devs that the copy became significantly more well known. It wouldn't be my first example of the benefits of open source.

[Telaneo]

Full team, no. Probably not even just the one guy who made 2048, unless maybe you count minimum wage. It's hard to know what he earned of ads and such, but I can't imagine it being anything massive.