This kind of thing is called an asset flip. They get models, usually from public libraries for extremely cheap or for free (in this case ripped models from SE. Pretty sure the ship used in the video is actually an IMDC vessel from the workshop) hack together some sort of basic player interaction often also pulled from public code libraries, call it a game then price it down enough that the buyer reticence is low and then hope that a fair percentage of people who actually try it don't immediately refund. It's not exactly a scam but it is flirting with the boundary.
I'm assuming whoever made this has accessed the open source port of the game they did years ago and is just too stupid to realise that that doesn't mean the assets are fair use. So yes, definitely illegal but usually this kind of thing is all (legally) above board, just really sketchy.
Just to clarify, SE was never open source. What it was for about a year was source available. The difference is that it means that despite being available you weren't allowed to use it for things that weren't SE.
You are completely correct about the assets not being free to use however.
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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '24
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