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Steam Workshop Payouts Top $57 Million Since 2011 Launch
Valve has shared new statistics on the Steam Workshop program. According to the publisher and platform holder, over $57 million have been paid out to creators of items for Valve games.
That sum was earned by over 1,500 community members in more than 75 countries. Up until now, supported titles were limited to the publisher’s own games. Cosmetic items for Team Fortress 2, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have been quite popular since the Workshop launch in 2011.
Now, Valve is adding the first games from other developers to the monetization program. Dungeon Defenders: Eternity and Chivalry: Medieval Warfare are now part of the curated workshop initiative.
The company says it anticipates adding more curated workshops in the future. Monetized community content isn’t strictly limited to Steam, either. Sony Online Entertainment has a Player Studio that has been extremely lucrative for vetted creators.
When we spoke with former Planetside 2 senior art director Tramell Isaac in 2013, he told us that players were walking away with thousands in shared revenue from their creations. You can read that interview here.
[Source: Valve]
Our Take
As companies expand their business model into new types of free-to-play (like Planetside and Dota 2), we’re going to see more opportunities for community members to earn. Not only does this take pressure off the art and development teams to create new cosmetic options, but it keeps players engaged and builds a tighter knit community.
Provided these contributions continue to be vetted and polished with help from staff, there is huge potential for user-generated content. We’ll see how this works in a console environment once Planetside 2 launches on PlayStation 4.
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