Here we are, back again with another tidbit from last weeks Steam Dev Days. Specifically, the frankly mind bending revelation that community created content pulled in a net revenue of almost a quarter of a million dollars. n one week. The week in question being the first week of January 2014. This isn't revenue made by Valve as a company, this is solely for money spent on community created content for games like Dota, Team Fortress 2, Global Offensive and so on.

But wait, I thought microtransactions were a bad thing. They are, right? We hate them, absolutely despise the very conept. Right? Unless Valve do it of course. But, see, now there's the thing. Valve isn't doing this. They merely facilitate the ability for players, we, the gamers, to do so. That's the key difference here. This is all lead by the community, for the community, within the community. Something which Valve themselves espouse as being the most important factor in making this a viable business model.

Basically, the reason we have this apparent cognitive dissonance is because the community is an active part, and mosre importantly, an active recipient of the benefits. The players have access to a whole load of really cool stuff. Whilst the people who make it pull in some cash on the side. Income that runs to an average sum, according to valve, of $15,000 per year. Certainly not something you can retire on, but dude. That's fifteen grand a year, for dicking about in a game.

And that is certainly better than a kick in the tits!