No any mod team would have to purchase an engine license if they wish too make a retail game.....
i was kinda thinking about something like Garry's mod - doesn't even the retail version still require Source/OB SDK?
So it's a still a sourcemod that happens to retail over steam ( and requiring the SDK how else would you play it?)
The sales split is apparently 50-50 - which i'm sure is a larger cut for Valve than the standard distribution percentage - so it kinda compensates for the fact that the license has not actually been purchased.
However, i just realised that garry's mod is infact a valve product - so I appreciate it's not a good example really.
That said this arrangement does kinda makes sense for all parties- mod maker gets money for no risk - his only investment is his labour.
I guess if the mod sells strongly then the dev would have been somewhat richer had he purchased the engine and given up less of the sales but that's how life works if your skint.
And valve can't lose - their overheads are tiny so they see profit v quickly, and it's money that probably would not have been made had the dev team been required to purchase the engine.
Got me thinking though - other non valve affiliated source games (SiN, 'the ship' etc) presumably are self contained with the engine incorporated, but are any of them capable of running independantly from steam?
If not, although i appreciate it's a wise choice anyway, is it possibly a condition of the engine license agreement regardless?
I just wonder, cos valve seem to be holding all the cards nowadays when it come to PC gaming.
It even appears many mods now have little choice but to use source+steam, even if it phaps isn't tecnically the most suitable, in the interest of building a playerbase.
Which brings me back to NeoTokio, which might have been nicer staying on unreal, feeling less counterstrikey.
But doesn't matter how nice a mod is, if no-one's playing.
