June 27, 2013 - TF2 Team







Since the Steam Workshop launched in October of 2011, over 1,200 items created by the TF2 and now the DOTA community have been made available for sale. That's added up to a whopping $10 million in royalties paid to item creators.

The thing is, nobody creates a TF2 item in a vacuum. Chances are if you've made something for the Workshop, you've probably gotten some amount of help and feedback from various toolmakers, communities and mentors. A lot of these resources have proven to be immensely valuable to item creators. We'd like to give you a chance to show them just how valuable.

What if we were to tell you that you can now compensate the service providers that've helped you by giving them a percentage of the sales from your in-game item? And then what if we were to notice you walking quickly away from us after we said that? So what if we ran after you and told you hold on, you didn't hear the important part: You'll get to compensate those service providers without any actual money coming out of your own pocket. That's right: The contribution will be made from a set percentage that is redirected from Valve to the service provider, not taken from your royalty.

Starting today, item creators like yourself can leaf through a wide variety of communities, toolmakers and individuals, and decide who most deserves a percentage of your item sales (again, not your percentage). Those who'll benefit are completely up to you—from forums to programs to tutorial writers. You can divide the money between as many or as few benefactors as you'd like.

We've posted the list here, and we realize it's far from comprehensive. So be sure to let us know about other helpful resources we might have missed.

If you already have an item in the Team Fortress 2 Workshop, you can add and set Service Allowances by visiting the page for your item in the Workshop. So get out there and pay it forward like Kevin Spacey did in that movie, Superman Returns, when he gave Superman all that kryptonite, and then Superman paid it forward into space.