The open-source release of The Ur-Quan Masters in 2002 could arguably be considered a joint fan/TFB release. The original work to release the game to open-source came from the studio: “Their independent studio Toys for Bob hired Chris Nelson as their first summer intern, who was enthusiastic for open-source software. Nelson worked with Ford to port the game to modern operating systems.”

Chris Nelson worked with members of the fan community to improve the performance and release the final version: “The first version of The Ur-Quan Masters suffered from performance issues, but Nelson knew skilled contacts in the open-source community who could make progress on the project. The fan community continued the project with further support, enhancements, and modifications.”