The answer is a definite NO. The main reason this is because Pygame doesn’t have a good support for accessing hardware acceleration that will be needed in developing commercial games.
I looked for it and I couldn’t find any commercial game developed in pygame.
So you might ask whether learning pygame is any good at all?
The answer is Yes. I think pygame is a good way to learn game programming. First things first python is an easy language to learn and to code. Pygame supports all the functionality’s needed for building games. With the ease of coding in python and support of pygame libraries you can get your hands dirty without having to deal with the nuances of language.
TLDR; With the ease of programming in python and support of game libraries in pygame this is a good way to learn game programming.
What free tools can be used to develop commercial 2D games?
This is surprising even for me. When I was searching for free tools to develop commercial 2D games I wasn’t expecting a Microsoft product in there.
From what I could find you can definitely develop commercial products without paying anything for the tool. But …
The Microsoft XNA Framework 2.0 EULA specifically prohibits the distribution of commercial networked games that connect to Xbox Live and/or Games for Windows Live in the absence of a specific agreement signed by both the developer and Microsoft.[19] This means that XNA Game Studio can still be used to develop commercial games and other programs for the Windows platform, although Microsoft’s networking support code for Xbox/Windows Live cannot be used. Self-developed network code can still be used inside the developer’s XNA project.
– wikipedia
Games developed in XNA can only be published for Windows phone, Windows PC and XBox. Some of the famous games that I liked developed in Microsoft XNA are Bastion, Fez, Magicka and Terraria.
You will need to learn C Sharp programming language but the XNA editor provides good programming/development support.
2. Unity3D
Yes, it is a 3D engine game engine but you can use this to develop 2D games too. Here is a short demo of how a 2D game is being developed in Unity3D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vl166fVe8E. There are tons of demo on how to use Unity3D for game programming. Just google it.
Personally I think 2.5D platform games are beautiful. Even though its not developed in Unity Trine 2 is an awesome looking 2.5D game. Since Unity is a 3D game engine you can use it to develop 2.5D games. Here is demo of 2.5D implementation in unity3D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD6VGTjkK9Q. Its just a ball rolling on platforms but still awesome looking one.
Unlike XNA, games developed in Unity3D can be exported to a lot of platforms from phones to Web to OS’s like windows to gaming platforms like xbox.
Some of the famous games I liked developed in Unity is Slender (it’s 3D game). Here’s a list of games that are being developed in Unity3D. So you know you can build successful commercial games in Unity.
You will need to learn Javascript to program in Unity.
Here’s a list of opensource game engines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_engines#Free_and_open_source
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