profit sharing Archives

AppWizard

September 25, 2026

Experimental RPG developer Summer Eternal: ‘We’re giving away 5% of our studio to you, the Players’ in order to ‘mend the trust broken in this industry a thousand times over’

Aleksandar Gavrilović has introduced a governance model at Summer Eternal that incorporates the interests of all stakeholders, including a player cooperative within a non-profit organization. Players will not profit personally but will have a say in how the organization’s income is allocated, aiming to rebuild trust in the gaming industry. Summer Eternal is pioneering a model that provides ownership stakes and profit-sharing to freelancers and customers, with players having a democratic influence supported by 5% of the profits. The studio will launch the Summer Eternal Anthology Vol. 1, featuring essays from notable contributors, available for preorder for one more day.

AppWizard

February 20, 2026

“It needs to cooperate fairly, and it’s clearly not.” Why Valve is facing a £656m day in the UK courts

Tim Sweeney of Epic Games has criticized revenue sharing on digital storefronts, leading to the creation of the Epic Game Store, which charges a 12% fee to developers. Legal actions against Apple and Google resulted in them allowing alternative storefronts for games. Valve maintains a 30% commission on Steam, prompting antitrust lawsuits from developers in the U.S. in 2021, which were consolidated into a class action approved in November 2024. In the UK, Vicki Shotbolt is leading a legal case against Valve, alleging violations of competition laws, with a court ruling allowing the case to proceed to trial. Shotbolt argues that Valve's 30% revenue share inflates prices for consumers and that its price parity requirement restricts developers from offering lower prices on other platforms. She emphasizes the need for fair cooperation in the gaming ecosystem and highlights Valve's market dominance, which pressures developers to use Steam. If successful, the class action could seek up to £656 million in damages for UK consumers and aims for a more equitable profit-sharing model between Valve and developers.

AppWizard

October 11, 2025

How a Schedule 1 “investigation” kicked off a battle over Drug Dealer Simulator

Byterunners, the developer of the Drug Dealer Simulator series, is in a dispute with its publisher, Movie Games, regarding withheld profits from console sales and contractual obligations. Byterunners claims that Movie Games has not paid them profits from the console versions of Drug Dealer Simulator 1 and 2, while Movie Games argues that Byterunners is not entitled to these profits based on their contract. The disagreement intensified after Byterunners alleged that profits were contingent upon compliance with new production plans, which they believe deviated from their original contract. Byterunners has made attempts to resolve the dispute, including a settlement proposal and a formal demand for compensation, but communication has broken down. Additionally, Movie Games fined Byterunners 4.5 million Polish złoty for alleged failures to address bugs in Drug Dealer Simulator 2. Both parties acknowledge that clearer communication could have potentially alleviated tensions, but neither has taken steps to re-establish dialogue since the public statements were made. Legal confrontation appears likely as the situation remains unresolved.