Steam allows payment in for mods?

[Botdra]

This is... interesting. If they've obtained permission from the publisher of the game(s) in question, and they are regulating the use of other people's resources, and the use of recreating content from other games, then I think this is a really great idea.

http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/aboutpaidcontent/

 

[Cerez]

An interesting move. I expect a percentage of the sales will go to Valve and the game studio for mod-sale approved games. Nevertheless, this sounds like an interesting new opportunity for mod-makers to be able to do more.

[Botdra]

Short of making a ton of models and assets for an actual game, there isn't really a way for modelers, map makers etc. to make money. Other creative professions have much easier ways of making money, so it's good that game design has that opportunity now too.

[hleV]

So more paid quality content, but less free content.

[Ping]

So more paid quality content, but less free content.

That was my first thought too. It's a DLC scheme where the devs don't even have to generate the content themselves, and given that many older games have a vibrant community only because of the modding scene, it's a means for the devs to generate income even from older titles without having to resort to subscription based models.

 

Given that the devs are taking a cut, I'm wondering if good modders would not be making more money by merely providing users the opportunity to donate some dollarz (although I'm sure even that is a bit of a legal grey area). Especially so given that Valve is apparently taking 75% of the price.

 

EDIT: Apparently the devs don't get all that much from that and it really is mostly just Valve getting 75%, which is pretty ridiculous.

[Cerez]

Well, seeing that Valve can dictate any terms they like as an exclusive platform publisher, they are free to do as they like with the games' modding world, too. I doubt many game studios and publishers will like this, but then again, they may have little choice if they wish to continue publishing and staying popular through Steam...

 

On one end this is good (more higher production level game content), on the other bad (less freedom, and less free content). The bigger news is that such a move from a recognised publishing platform like Steam will draw the attention of other publishing outlets, too. If this is successful, we may be entering a new era in mod distribution.

[Ping]

They certainly can do as they please, but I think many of the things they do are not particularly good for the consumer, especially in this case. The deal is also pretty atrocious for the modders (you only roughly get 1€ for each 5€ item you sell) and given that the early access model has shown that people like to get incomplete content out, get paid for it, then abandon it to start something new so they can get paid for something else, I'm not even sure if this is good for getting high quality stuff out there. Although I definitely believe people should be paid for some of the amazing things they make, I think the way Patreon does it might be the only way forward in providing people with a financial incentive to mod, but at the same time undermine pump and dump patterns of behavior.

[AshuraDX]

They give mod authors a "pay what you want " option isntead of a fixed price aswell , which is pretty much asking for donations @@Botdra

I may go ahead and enable that option for one of my skyrim mods and see what happens

[Ping]

Except that 3/4s of said donation goes to Valve, so it's far more of a donation to Valve than to the modder. But I guess at least it's legal, more so than just putting up a paypal link on the page.

[afi]

I could accept it if the modders would get most of the money but if they really only get 25% it's a scam.

[Cerez]

I can understand an up to 30% profit for Valve, because that's a standard publisher deal, but any more than that is just a plain rip-off... Even 30% is a lot, especially considering that the game developer needs a cut, too.

 

75% is plain ridiculous.

[Syko]

They give mod authors a "pay what you want " option isntead of a fixed price aswell , which is pretty much asking for donations @@Botdra

I may go ahead and enable that option for one of my skyrim mods and see what happens

 

The pay-what-you-want isn't actually really pay what you want. It is technically but it has a minimum payment that the modder sets, so it's basically like putting your mod up for sale at the minimum price giving the potential buyer the option to pay even more. Plus Valve gets 75% of any profits, which is ridiculous.

 

I'm for modders making money if they create something really good but I think either the mods should have a big donate button instead or they should have a true pay-what-you-want like Humble Bundle with a minimum purchase price of $0.01. Charging upfront for mods like they're doing is a terrible idea. Plus, a lot of these paid mods on the Workshop are free on Skyrim Nexus. 

 

If you do decide to put something up for a cost, be prepared for some backlash. There's a lot of people on Steam that are pretty pissed about this whole idea. 

[z3filus]

if only we could release skins, maps, models and mods on SteamWorkshop.... 

[Onysfx]

I don't like this idea at all. There should be a donation button, so people can donate to the modders so they can make more content, but forcing people to pay for it, especially when valve gets 75 percent of it....no...please no!

[Botdra]

My only issue with it is the 75% cut for Valve. Sure, up to 25% I can understand. But Valve didn't make the model, why should they get the majority of the profits?

@@Onysfx: You need to look at this from the view of other professions. Should art be sold "by donation"? Should music? Should sculpting? Should woodworking? Creative arts being limited to working for free or by donation isn't exactly the key to a thriving career in that field. You could sell a few steam cards and have $1.29 for a mod.

[Sentra]

@@Botdra 45% for Bethesda, 30% for Valve. fxd

 

And this model is a complete bullshit. Especially that modding could be supported with donations, but not with actual payment for a free modifications that were made by fans of the game to support it and bring some own ideas to it.

 

And now we have a Dota 2 sword in Top Sellers with 700+ subs, Jez Christ.

[Cerez]

45% for the game studio is way too much, as well. The game studio is only offering limited rights to their IP, after all. It's all within defined boundaries. The content creator should be receiving the largest cut from the sales.

 

If anything, it should be the other way around, to be fair: 75% for the mod-maker, 10% for the developer, and 15% for Valve.

 

Valve is offering a distribution and promotion platform and service, the game developer is offering limited rights to their IP/product, and the modder is doing all the heavy lifting and new (sub-)product creation.

[Wasa]

Wohoo~ Valve wants to compete with EA for the worst Game company cup.

[Xycaleth]

I don't think the blame is entirely on Valve here. Developers determine how much of the money modders get. In this case, Bethesda has decided that modders get 25% of the cut. The remaining money goes to the developer (Bethesda), Valve, and also some modder-chosen charities if they wish. When other developers begin to get on board with this (if they do), we might see more reasonable cuts.

[Clan FJA]

After the "pay more for the complete game" (= DLC), the "pay more and make yourself the complete game" !

 

I fear that, as the DLC and day-one patchs, futurs games will be less and less complete because "players will complete with mods". Just look the first release of Sims 4. There was a lack of features, because developpers thought "we don't need to make that, since fans will make a mod for that".

 

I think in a future time, editors won't need anymore developpers, only fans and modders to make games

how to make money with 0 investment !
 

 

Long live JKA !!!!!

[Ping]

Pretty much my thoughts on this as well. They are already getting people to pay for beta testing their games too. Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction.

[Clan FJA]

... jkhub should add a "donation" button to give money to modders.

15% for JKHUB, 10% for Caelum, and 75% for the modder.

 

Or 15% for JKhub, 35% for the modder and 50% for Caelum...

 

finally, Valve's idea is very good !

[Syko]

We need paid mods on JKHub. Someone should take KOTF and sell it on here for $50 without crediting the guy that used all those people's mods without their permission.

[Tempust85]

Seems like they are trying to keep up with EPIC & UE4. You can buy/sell assets on there as well.

[Xycaleth]

This is a very good read, written by the creator/owner of Nexus (kind of like Skyrim's equivalent of JKHub/JKFiles but a lot more successful )

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/games/news/12459/?