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Of course it goes without saying that you still need to make/buy/own all the art and assets.
The Steam Workshop thing is probably a feature in an old GameMaker version that allowed you to quickly see other peoples games, however you can export your game as an executable and sell it on Steam and any other platform you like.
How does one establish a form of legal documents that will say that my game product may, and can be sold legally? Is this even required once you've uploaded your game for sale on Steam?
Those are the kind of documents I'm thinking about. Also, how does one establish a publishing deal through the greenlight system?
So this is offtopic: I could create some artistic assets with GIMP for the game I've somewhat thought about in my head. Gimp is a free to use image editing software. Making my own art, is not really the issue because I would create my own art for this game that I would like to sell on Steam.
Of course if you make some software that breaks the law (uses someone else assets, has illegal content in it etc) that would be illegal.
Greenlight doesn’t exist anymore so don’t worry about that, also don’t worry about the Steam licencing at the moment. Learning how to make games requires a lot of practice and I normally find people that get caught up trying to sell and publish things too early never finish making their product.
Just have fun and make games.
I have informed you that the questions I am asking, might be weird. If you don't know much about selling legal game copies, this page is a page that can get me far. Before I would purchase GameMaker Studio Desktop 2, I can read https://www.yoyogames.com/legal/eula.
Note, that Steam Direct is pretty clear about the subject on how to bring out video games. But where is the legal section that would provide game makers with a document that says your game is getting sold, legally on our platform Steam?
So, what are those "additional" terms and conditions on the applicable third party platform that they are mentioning in article 3.7 Exporting Content. (In this case, note that the third party platform is "Steam" and not GameMaker Studio Desktop 2.)
Note that they are just talking about exporting here in the quote that you've posted. They've not said anything about selling.
Do they keep this subject vague on purpose? And if so, why?
Again, I'm looking for documentation that says, dear game builder... Now!!!!! From this moment, you can build, and sell you game legally. And nobody will say it is illegal because this document says so. And nobody, can somehow demand of you any damage claims, or terms, or conditions regarding how legal the selling product is, provided that you create your own art, or programming, or buy your assets to utilize in the video game that you want to deliver as a selling product, legally.
I'm pretty sure, I'm a weird person, and I ask weird things. But these are things that I think are important to be aware of. You can't blame a person that was never made aware of those things. Ignorance is not a crime, but I'd like to know what I am going to do. Just because someone tells you something, doesn't make it legal. I need documents to support this. Even if a president says something is legal, he or she will need documents to support that statement, this is how important "legal" is.
This also makes no sense, why does he need documents to support his statement? There are also none for such a thing in reallife, because you will only find documents about what's illegal which is way easier to tell. Everything what's not illegal is either in a gray area or legal.
So you have to ask your government whether working (as game designer) is legal.
I cannot find such a document, or the suggestion that such a document will be delivered once you've submitted a video game on the "Steam Direct" page.
The occupation game designer, is not illegal. This is not what I want to find out.
A gray area could simply be undocumented, but still be either legal, or illegal. Just because it is not written down it can be illegal. This is why I want those documents as well. To know, not to second guess, whether what I am going to build is worth getting build, and getting sold legally.
Even 1 person buying it legally, would be enough for me.
The EULA provided by YYG[www.yoyogames.com] protects YYG and their property (including GMS2). It's only designed to list what rights and restrictions are explicitly addressed and whatever is not addressed is inherently not deemed their responsibility by their legal team who wrote the EULA document and licensing terms. (Note that the policy can change too, such as when clarification is needed or restrictions need adjustment). You should be able to approach YYG for clarification if some part of their policies confuse you. Their response should qualify as evidence in most courts to defend your decisions if they ever decided to take back what they've agreed to and pursued you for damages over the exact thing you received permission to do - again, talk to your lawyer.
YYG is making no claims to work that is genuinely yours.
You can find more information to assist these terms, but most of them are about handling tax-reports or the process of preparing your game or store presence.
If you want the terms provided by YYG to be clarified, you should be contacting YYG directly, not us. We cannot sufficiently provide you legal protection for something you feel needs to be better addressed in the agreement you form with YYG. https://accounts.yoyogames.com/contact-us
I'm defeated by the simplicity of my request, because when I am reading through the procedure of the Steam Direct page, I cannot find the documents to support that any game getting sold at Steam is factually sold legally. Would you not want to know that your game product is getting sold legally? Perhaps I'm looking for a confirmation in the form of a watermark, that says that your game is legally sold at Steam now. I know this is a little weird to ask, but they do this with other products too, like food and drinks, and electronics. Is it so weird to ask this for a video game that is being sold digitally too? On the long term, us game developers could easily distinguish pirated games from legal games by identifying the lack of such a "legal" watermark. Don't you think so?
GameMaker Studio is just a tool for making software, there are lots of these tools to pick from and I’m not sure any of them have this document you are looking for (if you have an example please show us so we know what you are looking for)
Your comment about stamps on food and electronics is not how the game industry works. YOU HAVE NEVER BOUGHT A GAME IN YOUR LIFE. No one sells game, you buy a licence to play a game, you never own a game. It’s different because software can be infinitely duplicated, all the other examples you give have to be made from other goods. And you can’t add a “legal” watermark because that would just get duplicated when the pirate clones your game .
I said it already but making games is really hard, most people never get to the stage where they can sell their games because it can take years to understand how to make games, what people what to play, game design etc. Start making games first and if you are lucky enough to be in a position to sell games in the future you can look into it then.
MrDave:
So, one of the reasons why I am not sure whether to purchase Game Maker Desktop Studio 2 is because I'm not sure if I should spend all of that time on creating videogame assets to be used with Game Maker Desktop Studio 2, while the licence might not permit me to sell what I have created at Steam. I'm saying, "might not", because I am not sure if the licence that I'm getting, if I buy the Steam version of Game Maker Desktop Studio 2, permits me to sell what I have created with Game Maker Desktop Studio 2, at Steam.
So, for example MMO games have a steam key specifically tied to the game as a licence to play, right? And this licence key comes up everytime when you start this video game MMO. As far as I can see, to video gamers, it is sort of a confirmation that they are allowed to play this game.
A licence key of this sort, that says that your licence to play is valid, is not what I mean, as such a licence key is for video gamers, not really for the video game builders.
What I mean is a confirmation for video game builders that their game is legit, and sold in a legit way, on the Platform Steam. The Steam Direct page tells you to pay €100,- to upload your game to the store. I suppose that I could see that payment as a way to legitimize my video game product on the Steam platform, but is it actually what I am doing? Is selling my videogame product at Steam made legit, by paying €100,- to have my game sold at the Steam store?
Is Steam or Valve going to look at the content of the game to see how legit it is before they accept the €100,- and with what software the video game builder has built their videogame? Perhaps I am looking for a plaque, or a sticker of some sort saying that my product is legit, and that if for example the IRS (tax) would ask me about it, I can prove that my stuff is getting sold legit because I have that plaque or sticker to prove that. Does that make some sense though? Steam Direct has a whole form that lets you fill out tax information, but how do I prove that my game product is legal? That my income made from my game will be legal? Even selling a video game one time is something I should have to declare somehow, right?
Yes, I am aware my questions might seem weird. Thanks for reading through these questions. Maybe my questions, will raise some questions on your end as well.
You also keep implying there is some kind of affiliation between parties that really doesn't exist. The IRS and Steam and YYG and whoever else you think might be relevant are all independent of each other and probably distrust each other just as much as you should them. They each form different agreements with you that focuses on their rules and their terms.
There is no "seal of approval" here because that kind of thing usually regards certificates and only provides value to customers. The IRS should not be interested in your licensing agreements with other parties because it has nothing to do with taxes or revenue.
(although I really don't know anything about the "IRS" in the UK, if I'm to understand that's where you are from; maybe you meant the HMRC[en.wikipedia.org] since the IRS is part of the US federal government).
In North America, business legitimacy and quality is more of a BBB[en.wikipedia.org] kind of thing and that's just a 1912-version of Yelp, essentially (unaffiliated with any government agency and designed to give consumers confidence in their purchase). In the US, if actual "crimes" are involved, the FBI might get involved, but checking the license-key legitimacy of a GDK is unlikely to be relevant in their investigations - and the FTC is probably not going to be concerned about that either.
You pay $100 to Steam Direct (per game title) to publish on their distribution network and to show weight to your commitment - it's a security deposit, in fact they give you back the $100 after your game passes that amount in revenue (they keep the $100 if the game doesn't, I guess). Steam doesn't care if you have a legitimate copy of GMS2 or if you have a pirated copy of GMS2 or if YYG changes their policy overnight to make distribution of games exported from GMS2 a breach of their agreements.
You follow the YYG EULA to not p*ss off anyone at YYG (since they are the ones you seem most concerned about that might pursue you for damages if you did something with their tool that wasn't permissible by them) and they know the purpose of their application is to make games. Without the ability to distribute games made from GMS2, the tool is essentially worthless. YYG isn't going to pursue you from that angle because it's literally-stupid to do that for their product. They also don't have any kind of shared-revenue model or royalties model like Unreal and Unity have, so they won't be nagging you for money based on your game's revenue.
Moreso, once you've compiled a game, the product is not the property of YYG, that product is your property - which is why you become responsible for it across all these other parties (Steam holds you accountable if you decide to insert malware or controversial content in your game and the FBI holds you accountable if your game is somehow relevant to their investigation and YYG holds you accountable if you somehow break one of their few agreements about exported games from their EULA). The only "sticker" I can think of in this process is the "made with Game Maker" watermark that YYG imposes for games made with their "legitimate" demo/free version of GameMakerStudio, and that's only there to serve as free-advertising for them in lieu of an unpaid copy of GMS. If you wanted to include this watermark in games you've made with your paid-copy of GMS2, to add some form of "legitimacy," I find it difficult to believe YYG would really be upset about it...
If you are talking about the US IRS, they would be auditing you to see where the money comes and goes - they want receipts and paper-trails about transactions to make sure they get "their share" of your income and expenses (and AFAIK, they typically only audit you when they feel like you may have been dishonest with your report). You can go here and look at the forms for whatever is appropriate to your situation.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed
You might see something about asset value and maybe liquidity or such, but in regard to YYG and GMS2 that's going to have more to do with your license-key/copy of GMS2 and who technically owns it (creating a distinction between "you" and "your business" - since businesses are entities) and not having to do with the legitimacy of the export game binary/product in regards to YYG's EULA.
The IRS forms are different based on if you are self-employed or if you have a small-business. Your bank will probably have a service to help you fill those out, but an accountant should be able to help too (accountants would also keep you in order if that IRS audit you're worried about ever happens). Also, TurboTax. Steam also provides a lot of information to make sure they won't be hindering you in the process of reporting your game's revenue to the IRS.
https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/finance/taxfaq
But we really should stop digressing and shifting goal-posts.
TL;DR - the thing you are looking for does not exist nor does it need to. If it did exist, the only people who would care are consumers with a stickler for games made with GameMakerStudio.
A hammer-manufacturer does not require a license agreement to permit their customers to sell wooden-birdhouses nailed together with their hammer-products - and birdhouse-customers probably don't care if you hammered with a diamond-mallet or a blunt-rock.
----
Again, if there is some phrasing or absence in the YYG EULA that you need clarification on, do not ask us - approach YYG.
And a reminder that I am not your lawyer. When/If you do hire a lawyer (preferably one familiar with the game-industry professionally) to look over your game and verify that you are clear of any contractual breaches, you can take that opportunity to ask for their experienced opinions.
I'm getting GameMaker Studio 2 Desktop now. Thanks again.
Wish me luck, I might need it.
I know it was said already, but if you're just now getting started with GMS2, the learning curve of the software alone should set your schedule back a ways - then you've got the element of design and mechanics and narrative and player feedback/response/bugs to put you really far behind schedule, assuming you've never made a commercial video game before and are unprepared for those particular bottlenecks.
Worrying about commercialization (and not even the marketing aspects of it) is kind of like putting the cart ahead of the horse[idioms.thefreedictionary.com].
There is not much else to do but work, so... I wouldn't worry about trying to see where the ship goes to with me. I'd like to say that I know what I am getting into before I am going to work years on a game or so? But Today's generation is mostly about learning by doing, so I guess I'll just row with the row spans that I have, and maybe sing a song along the way in midst of all that work I am about to do.
What I am about to attempt starts as recreation. To spend some time attempting to create a videogame, while doing something I like in my spare time. It'd be nice if it sells but I'll be honest that this is not why I am about to do this. You have to understand that life is very long if you don't have a hobby, or something else to spend some time on in your spare time. It can be a curse sometimes, I'm sure. At least I will be entertained. Thanks, for wishing me luck guys. I know you've meant it. ;-)