Online game store Steam unlocked the hit game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as a temporary, weekend-long freebie for all its users on Thursday, and the reason was so that fans might put their cash elsewhere. As of this morning, the game's Steam Workshop section, full of user-made content like mods, turned into a marketplace where creators and fans can assign prices to their creations and directly make cash—a first for the Steam service.
Up until today, the Steam Workshop allowed fans to tinker with compatible games and upload their creations, additions, and updates for the sake of free downloads. What changed today is that those creators can now, after filling out a "tax interview" and providing a bank account that accepts US dollars, charge users whatever price they please for their new levels, their visual overhauls, and their flaming swords. A creator can still leave their wares on the service as freebies, or they can choose either a static price or a "pay what you want" structure. Should a buyer not be satisfied with a mod, they can request a refund within 24 hours of purchase.
The Steam Workshop launched in 2011 as a way for fans to upload weapon and item designs for the game Team Fortress 2; Valve then chose its favorites, along with favorites as voted by fans, to be added to the official game, at which point DLC payments would go into those creators' pockets. Other non-Valve games include this "golden gate" user-generated sales functionality, as well, but Skyrim is the first—and currently only—Steam game where users can bypass the game's developers and sell their add-ons without any creative approval. (Should an unethical modder try selling other users' Skyrim creations via this updated Steam Workshop, they can file a DMCA Takedown Notice directly through Valve's site.)
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