S&Box To Launch On Steam With "Sustainable" Payout For Devs
"We don't have to fire 1,000 people to keep it working."
If you haven't been following along, s&box is a game engine and platform built on Valve's Source 2 by Facepunch Studios, the creators of Rust and Garry's Mod. It's been in the works for a while, went open-source, and is now preparing for release on Steam after receiving a store page a couple of years ago.
With the launch date set for April 28, Facepunch Studios has shared a press release touching on creator payments and other developer-focused topics, saying the platform isn't being shaped by short-term investor pressure:
"We're not guided by commercial milestones, we're not going to do an IPO. We do this because we love it, we want to give the community the same opportunities we've had. We want to do that as fair and generously as possible. Without any corporate mischief." (via PC Gamer)
Believing that developers should get paid for their games, Facepunch has reportedly already paid out over $500,000 to those using s&box. "This isn't as extreme as others, but it'll grow and is sustainable, since we don't have to fire 1,000 people to keep it working."
The quote seems to be a fairly direct reference to Epic Games recently making headlines after laying off over 1,000 employees. That's a bold statement for a studio of its size, however, Garry's Mod started out free in its early days before evolving into one of Steam's most famous titles, and Rust still has a large player base today.
As for s&box payments, they come from The Play Fund, a pool of money which, at the moment, is generated from Garry's Mod profits and is distributed among the games and maps with the most players. Another point Facepunch made is that "s&box games can be exported as standalone titles on Steam":
"We don't ask for any royalties for this. No hidden percentages, no rug pulls, your work is yours. This means that if you make a popular game on our platform, you're not stuck, if you can make it standalone, you should."
If you grew up spending hours in Garry's Mod and miss that kind of creative freedom, you can wishlist s&box and keep an eye out for its launch.
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