| Ha! They actually caved! Incredible. I've been following the evolution of the situation very closely, as i'm actually a big believer in paid mods. Valve's problem, I believe, was trying to take an existing ecosystem/market that wasn't geared towards financial rewards, and tried to force it on it.
Even if 75% would have gone to the mod developers, the community would still resist the change, since that's what the human mind is programmed to do, and tight communities like those operate like a hive-mind, causing the outburst to be exponentially stronger. Edit: Forgot to add, all the talk about "open collaboration cannot happen in an ecosystem with financial incentives" - I call BS. Compare this to the world of software development and open source - which is thriving. Mega corps & the little guy/girl building production quality libraries and systems which generate big ass revenue streams. What's the difference between a mod's code and an [insert your favorite package manager here] package?
Right, there's graphic assets, but maybe someone's missing a collaborative graphic design market? Game development is heading the same directions as the start-up world - from an industry where only the big boys can play, to a collaborative effort where the execution matters & creativity thrives. |
Open source software companies rarely generate money from software, it's almost all in services. Games don't have an equivalent services model e.g. "Hire iD rep to come to your house to install the latest Quake Mods $175/hr, minimum engagement 6 months FTE"