koobas.hobune.stream
Unity Basic on Steam?
Hello everyone! I was just wondering if a game made with the free version of Unity can be published to Steam? I don't have the money to buy the Pro version of Unity, and it really gives me more than I need for my project.
Since free Unity doesn't allow you to code native plugins, can I still somehow implement Steam's SDK? Will they accept it?
Thanks
Yes of course. Simply glance at Unity's licence FAQ
"Can we sell games and make money with the free version of Unity?"
Answer, YES. Obvious ! As far as the Unity3D side goes.
However, as Pozo says below, it looks like (in a word) S$$anonymous$$m is only interested in large seasoned publishers.
Why not read this? http://www.s$$anonymous$$mpowered.com/s$$anonymous$$mworks/FAQ.php
Getting on Steam is far from being as easy as some people think. They are by far the market leader in digital distribution and they can choose - and they do. I have seen collegues failing to get on Steam with highly polished games and the indie games on Steam are either really exceptional or they have direct connections to Valve or people making bigger business with Valve. Getting on Steam will become much harder now with Greenlight working, which is in my opinion only a way for Valve to reduce the masses of submissions in an elegant and publically accepted way. Valve requires a solid product and a solid company structure, even from independent studios. You need to present a well planned marketing campaign, you need to pass the submission process and much more. So in short - no, Valve won't publish your game on Steam, no chance, if you not even have the money for the pro version. And that is NOT about using the free version, it is simply because of the lack of resources behind your project. Head over to IndieDB and present your game there, build an audience and then go to the smaller portals, like Little Indie or Desura. They will be happy to publish your game, but even there a game exported with the pro version is much more welcome. The pro version is less than 1500 $ - if you don't have the money for that, you don't have the money to create a suitable game at all in most cases...
Sun, it sounds like you have cleared up this "Greenlight" business.
(1) S$$anonymous$$m only publishes large professional games
(2) the reason you see hundreds of comic starter games on "Greenlight" is exactly as you say Sun .. Valve has added the "Greenlight" thingy as a sort of outlet to stop complaints along the lines of "only big polished professional games can get on S$$anonymous$$m". So, all the helloWorld efforts, people can toss them on "Greenlight" like a notice board. Sure, one time in a million a game will make it from there through to S$$anonymous$$m itself.
Nice actual info Sun, thanks!
The pro version is less than 1500 $ - if you don't have the money for that, you don't have the money to create a suitable game at all in most cases
That is absolute rubbish. Perfect example - Gunpoint. It cost $$anonymous$$ £30 which was the price to buy Game$$anonymous$$aker. That game did fantastically well.
You are 100.0% totally incorrect, Zammalad. Gunpoint took 100s of hours of work by people like John Roberts, Fabian van Dommelen etc. (They happened to want to work FOR FREE because of the PC Gamer publicity angle.) Note that just their Adobe licenses etc are $1000s a year. Francis has a whacky publicity line that it cost him "$30" to make the game. It's not complicated - ask him how much his next game is costing to make.
This is not 100% incorrect. What's to say anyone else wouldn't have people working for free. There are also free applications which could do just what OP needs for assets etc. Don't just assume people would have to use expensive software to make a good game.
Hello,
I'll assume that you are hoping to make a game that will be sold on Steam and not a mod.
In that case, getting your game to be published on Steam requires you to have a proper/official company legally setup. Your company would have to be in compliance with the many commerce laws, you would have to have a physical company office etc.
If you have all of this setup already, you would have at to least have a preview build of your game and enter into contract talks with Valve, and somehow strike a publishing deal, along with a million other details/conditions that come with that.
After doing all this, and spending all this money/time on setting up a company, paying lawyers, travel expenses, I think spending the $1,500 for Unity Pro might seem like small potatoes. I also doubt that Steam would publish a game that has the Unity Watermark during gameplay.
This is not to shoot down your dreams/plans, but you may want to get more familiar with the professional games industry before planning to be a part of it. What is more realistic is if you started distributing your game via your own website, and if your game is solid, and is selling like crazy, then you can think about Steam publishing.
Thanks.
Hmm ok. Do you have experience with S$$anonymous$$m publishing? I have seen some games up there from very small indie developers that I highly doubt have any physical office. They even say on their FAQ page that you don't have to be a large company. As long as the game is fun, they will be willing to look at it.
Exactly, you don't have to be a large company, but you do have to be a company. Anyways, of course if your game is exceptional, things can be very flexible. But regarding your initial questions: S$$anonymous$$m will not publish a game that carries the Unity free version watermark on the final product. I'm sure though that you can submit your demo entry with the free version of Unity and upgrade if S$$anonymous$$m decides to publish your game. Best of luck.
I do not know the answer to your question, but founding a company is not a hard thing to do (well depends on the country you live). Even if you do not have a company you can make a deal with one that you know and submit your game through them.
What about Indie devs? Do they really have to have an office and everything too? I know this is true to get a license to publish to Unity's consoles ($80k per title for Xbox and PS3, $40 per title for Wii) Valve should be pretty nice about it though. There actually is a game made in Unity on S$$anonymous$$m.
One more tutorial on how to make Ludosity Steam Wrapper works on MacOS and Linux: http://kostiantyn-dvornik.blogspot.com/2015/01/unity-anoxemia-steam-tutorial.html
In response to comments on other answers:
Trust me, no one will want to steal your 'million dollar idea'. In fact, the more people you tell about your 'secret' game idea the better.
Also, Apple was founded in a Silicon Valley garage, not a 'office'.
Answer to OP:
If you want to establish a sole proprietorship or a Limited Liability Company (LLC), and you live in the United States; then you need to register to get a Employer Identification Number (EIN) with your state.
It is really easy to setup, and is a mere $50 dollar expense.
It will serve as your company's social security number.
Also, upgrading to Unity Pro is a $1500 dollar expense. (Not COST)
As far as implementing Steam's SDK into Unity, I typed into google "implementing steam sdk into unity"
Note how I provided my search keywords, people are often stubborn and say "google it", that is not the intent here.
This seemed like a good internal result: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/unity-to-steam-sdk-beta-annoucment.117099/
Well, start publishing you're game to steam greenlight. I reccommend that you get you're legal rights sorted first, so that anyone doesn't steal you're stuff. :)
