Valve not taking any royalties from Source 2 engine - just have your game on Steam

[Aniallation]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/03/04/source-2-is-actually-free-like-for-free/

 

We've had news on the release of Source 2, but it seems that Valve is offering it truly for free, unlike Unreal and Unity, the only catch being that your game would require to be published on Steam. So as long as you're okay with publishing your game on Steam, seems that Value won't be taking any royalties for use of their Source 2 Engine.
 

Valve’s sudden entry into the engine race, with an official announcement of Source 2, seems to have put them right up front alongside frenzied rivals Unity and Unreal. (Poor old Crytek, eh?) Meeting with studio bigwig Erik Johnson today, I learned that when they say Source 2 is “free”, they mean it. Unlike Unity’s (much lowered) subscription rates (for larger teams), and Epic’s revenue cut of successful projects, Valve won’t be asking for any money at all. Well, sort of… They just require that the game be launched on Steam, along with anywhere else you might want to sell it.

 
That’s pretty huge. But it’s important to point out it’s also pretty smart. In real-terms, it does mean Valve are going to be getting – in fact – 30% of your revenue, as is standard for anything sold on Steam. However, and crucially, developers are going to be free to also sell their game anywhere else, which means you can also use stores that take far lower cuts. Use Source 2, put your game on Steam and take advantage of Steamworks, the community features, and so on, but direct all your customers to your Humble store where only see 5% won’t reach you.

 

Of course, as Valve well knows, if a game’s on Steam, most of its sales are going to be on Steam. That’s the current state of the industry, at least. But the counter to that is, if you make your game in Unreal, you’re still going to want to have it on Steam when you launch (or especially if you want to use Early Access). Cross Unreal’s threshold of grossing over $3,000 per quarter, and 5% of that is going Epic’s way, as well as Valve’s 30%.

At the moment, if you’re a lone developer or a small team, Unity 5 still looks like it might be the best deal. Free for lone devs, and only $1500 outright (or $75 a month) for teams, massive success won’t cost you any more like Epic’s deal.

 

Plus there are no shackles at all, no requirement to pay Valve’s tithe. But Source 2’s arrangement, for those who know they’re going to seek a Steam presence anyway, looks like it could be extremely appealing/

If you’re a developer, whether a bedroom coder or working for a big corp, let us know which way you see yourself or your studio heading.

 

[Pugs501]

[The Crazed Child]

Appropriate gif.

[Pugs501]

Appropriate gif.

[bob345]

wow, so i guess now we will get a ton of fan made half life 3's :lol:

[Frankie]

wow, so i guess now we will get a ton of fan made half life 3's :lol:

 

[Pugs501]

You got some Sauce for that?

[Frankie]

You got some Sauce for that?

 

http://giphy.com/search/half-life

[Pugs501]

http://giphy.com/search/half-life

The Sauce for the UnEdited one 

[Texhnlyze]

Let's create half life 3. Make it happen people.

[Frankie]

The Sauce for the UnEdited one 

 

Oh like that, nope random google gif find

[Pugs501]

Oh like that, nope random google gif find

If you want to Post Gifs like me,  you've to be able to Sauce Gifs in a moment

[Frankie]

If you want to Post Gifs like me,  you've to be able to Sauce Gifs in a moment

 

I am sorry to disappoint you Castiel.

 

I am really not, cause I am gangster like that.

[themodernagenb]

Yeah, that's because they take a cut of the profits from Steam sales. So it's basically the same thing.

[TopWargamer]

They probably made it free because they know they're going to make bank from Source 2 games sold through Steam. Not a bad strategy though, and it's still a good thing that Source 2 is free.

[BrapYeah]

The way I see it there is no loser, everyone wins.

[Deletive]

You still realize that they take 30% if you charge anything for the game.

[Humbug]

I'm ok with this since they do not ask you to be exclusively on steam. You can have your game on gog or origin or consoles etc as long as it's also on steam.

[Victorious Secret]

So they are taking a 30% royalty. 

[Common_Courtesy]

This seems fair enough really, and honestly who doesn't put their games on steam.  

[Ertman]

They aren't taking a larger Cut then any other steam game, And it seems fair to have the steam availability as a requirement given the free engine. It's not exclusive agreement, and it's wise for a developer/publisher to offer their games on steam anyways.

[dalekphalm]

So they are taking a 30% royalty. 

Why does no one seem to see this? lol

 

By making it "royalty free", yet force devs to release on steam, they are guaranteeing a 30% cut of all game sales from Source 2 games.

 

Granted, I doubt they'd ever let Source Engine games ever be released elsewhere, but none the less, saying it's "royalty free" is misleading at best.

[Unrealmaster]

As a person who hopes to build a game one day, I think that this is a great move. Between this and UE4 being free (before you publish), this will make it much easier (cheaper) for people to learn how to make games on amazing engines.

 

Its also a win win scenario for developers and valve, since they get 30% for games sold through steam and developers have to pay less and they get the flexibility to publish on multiple platforms.

 

 

Why does no one seem to see this? lol

 

By making it "royalty free", yet force devs to release on steam, they are guaranteeing a 30% cut of all game sales from Source 2 games.

 

Granted, I doubt they'd ever let Source Engine games ever be released elsewhere, but none the less, saying it's "royalty free" is misleading at best.

 

Source 2 games don't have to be exclusively sold through steam

Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/source-2-will-be-free-wont-ask-for-royalties/

PUN INTENDED  

[Humbug]

By making it "royalty free", yet force devs to release on steam, they are guaranteeing a 30% cut of all game sales from Source 2 games.

Granted, I doubt they'd ever let Source Engine games ever be released elsewhere, but none the less, saying it's "royalty free" is misleading at best.

It's not an exclusivity agreement. Devs are free to release the games via any distribution method, as long as it's also on steam... And for steam sales they take their usual 30% cut. If people have a problem with that they should be criticizing the steam model... Not the source 2 model because devs are free to also sell on gog, origin also where valve gets no cut.

[dalekphalm]

As a person who hopes to build a game one day, I think that this is a great move. Between this and UE4 being free (before you publish), this will make it much easier (cheaper) for people to learn how to make games on amazing engines.

 

Its also a win win scenario for developers and valve, since they get 30% for games sold through steam and developers have to pay less and they get the flexibility to publish on multiple platforms.

 

 

 

Source 2 games don't have to be exclusively sold through steam

Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/source-2-will-be-free-wont-ask-for-royalties/

PUN INTENDED  

 

 

It's not an exclusivity agreement. Devs are free to release the games via any distribution method, as long as it's also on steam... And for steam sales they take their usual 30% cut. If people have a problem with that they should be criticizing the steam model... Not the source 2 model because devs are free to also sell on gog, origin also where valve gets no cut.

Fair enough, thanks for clarifying that.

 

With that in mind, whatever other platform they sell on, Steam will invariably be their largest platform.

 

And I have no problem with Valve taking a 30% cut. They provide a convenient platform with 99% of the games I desire. Until another platform offers the same games and is better, at any rate. Origin comes close in certain ways, but lacks the catalogue of Steam.