You can never know.
But if you guys fail, and give up, you will most likely share the sources, so anybody later can pick it up and do that you couldn't. That would be reasonable.
But if you guys succeed, you will have the sources only. That means only you can host a private server.
That has a pro and a con, among others:
Pro: One unified server for every player, not 100 small server with 10 player each.
Con: Easier to shut down your service by a cease and desist.
The future is open-source, I'd recommend it.