Could we use a FreeDev game that works as a demo to then attract the money or is that totally not the point?
That might work with fundraising websites like kickstarter, etc.
If you plan to commercialize the game, it might also work I suppose, but you will loose some freedom to the investors (like license freedom for instance).
In the end this game is meant to be for underprivileged kids to get online and compete against others so maybe making it all free is a good thing?
-if free in the sense of libre:
Yes! Not only because of the lower costs (or even zero-cost), but also because the children might be able to play around with the code and learn how to program, how the physics engine works, etc, or learn how to create 3D computer models, anything related to game development and programming in general.
-if free in the sense of gratis:
Obviously yes.
Anyway what are your thoughts?
I am impressed by the development speeds, although I suppose it is normal if you have professionals working full-time on it. (1 day to design a 3D ball xD)
I would very much like to see this game being developed in an open-source way by volunteers, but the reality is that you will have difficulties finding volunteers and they will not be working full-time on it, so the development time might be pretty long.
Of course, if you are able to pay full-time developers to create the game, it might take about the same time.
The other advantage of an open-source development is that you might get something usable faster and neverending improvements (in theory).
So what do they say about the licenses? Are they willing to give you all rights so that you can publish the code under a FOSS license and the art under a CC license, provided you pay them those €171.360?