Kongregate is pleased to offer royalties to developers who distribute games through any of Kongregate’s platforms! With royalties you receive through your Game(s) via Kongregate.com or Kartridge, your Game(s) can generate revenue without you having to implement your own payment system. The Addendum explains how this works.
Royalties Addendum
General Application
The Royalties Addendum (the “Addendum”) applies to game developers (“you”) who will be eligible to receive royalties related to your Game that you upload on any of Kongregate’s platforms, e.g., Kongregate.com, Kartridge, etc. and/or who accept Kongregate Kreds or Tokens in their applications and to the extent applicable, this Addendum is incorporated into, and constitutes a part of, the Game License and Upload Agreement (the “Upload Agreement”).
Kongregate Inc. (“We” or “Kongregate”) reserves the right to amend the terms of the Addendum at any time. When any changes are made, including any changes to the royalty rate, we will try to provide reasonable notice and will post the updated version on http://developers.kongregate.com and may also send an email or provide additional notice. Each time your Game is accessed our Platform, the then current version of the Agreement applies. You agree to check the terms of this Agreement periodically for updates, amendments or new information that govern your use of the Kongregate Platform and services. Should you have any questions about the changes, you are welcome to contact us at developer_support@kongregate.com. The continued availability of your Game on any Kongregate Platform constitutes acceptance of any changes. If you do not agree with the changes, then unfortunately, we must ask you to cease using the Kongregate Platform for Your Game(s) as we must have all developers under the same terms in order to provide equitable Services to all.
Royalties for Direct Sales on Kartridge of Your Game. You will receive “royalties” from your Game as it is purchased by Kongregate Platform users. You will receive such royalties from your Game generally as a percentage of either Net Revenue or Gross Revenue from your Game, with certain exceptions, as provided in the Royalties Calculation Table below. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Kongregate may issue, free of charge, up to twenty-five (25) internal Game keys to Kongregate employees for internal use (e.g., testing, badge design, etc.), for which you will not receive any royalties.
“Gross Revenue” means the monies received and accrued from your Game less applicable taxes.
“Net Revenue” means the Gross Revenue received and accrued from your Game less payment processing fees and/or other expenses paid to third parties. To be clear, the difference between Gross Revenue and Net Revenue is that in addition to the applicable taxes, Net Revenue also deducts payment processing fees and/or other expenses paid to third parties.
“Game Price” means the retail price of the Game at the time of the transaction, including any developer-initiated discounts or sales available at that time.
“Coupon Value” means the amount that a coupon reduces the Game Price for a particular purchase. For the sake of clarity, coupons are applied AFTER any discounts or sales that you have initiated. For example, if you initially priced your Game at $20, and then you run a 50% off sale thereby bringing the Game Price to $10 a player could use a 20% off coupon, and the Coupon Value would be $2.00 (20% of $10).
Royalties Calculation Table.
Your Royalty Rate Is:
While Your Share of Total Royalties1 Is:
Exlusivity Condition
Except When Tokens Are Used:
Except When Coupons Are Used:
100% of the Net Revenue from your Game
$0–$10,000
REGARDLESS of whether or not your Game is exclusive to Kartridge.
Your royalty rate is 35% of the Game Price (as defined below in 3.B.).2
Your royalty rate is 100% of the Net Revenue + 100% of the Coupon Value.3
90% of the Gross Revenue from your Game
$10,001–$50,000
WHILE the Game is exclusive to Kartridge on BOTH Windows and Mac.4
Your royalty rate is 90% of the Gross Revenue.5
70% of the Gross Revenue from your Game
$10,001–$50,000
When the Game is NOT exclusive to Kartridge.
The royalty rate is 70% of the Gross Revenue + 70% of the Coupon Value.6
$50,001 +
REGARDLESS of whether or not your Game is exclusive to Kartridge.
Note that the tiered royalty rate is based on the royalties YOU have earned from your Game on a per Game basis. The royalties you receive from Kartridge Tokens or Kreds is separate from, and NOT included in, the total royalties calculation for tiering of royalty rates under this table.
For example, if your Game costs $10, and a player redeems Tokens to “purchase” your Game, even though the player spends no money, we still consider the Game Price as $10. Therefore, you will receive 35% of $10, or $3.50 in royalties for this transaction.
For example, if your Game costs $10, and a player uses a 20% off coupon, then you will receive 100% of the Net Revenue of $8 (i.e., approximately $7.50) PLUS 100% of the $2 Coupon Value (i.e., $2.00), which totals approximately $9.50.
This is a temporary program that requires the Game to have launched on Kartridge no later than October 31, 2019.
For example, if your Game costs $10, and a player uses a 20% coupon, then you will receive 90% of the Gross Revenue of $8, i.e., approximately $7.20.
For example, if your Game costs $10, and a player uses a 20% coupon, then you will receive 70% of the Gross Revenue of $8 (i.e., approximately $5.60), PLUS 70% of the $2 Coupon Value (i.e., $1.40), which totals approximately $7.00. Note that the royalties the developer will receive when a player uses a coupon is the same amount the developer would receive when a player had not used a coupon. The intent behind this method of calculation is so that a player’s use of coupons is favorable to the player while not negatively impacting the developer.
Royalties for Kartridge Tokens Redeemed to Purchase Your Game.
Players will have certain opportunities to obtain Kartridge Tokens while playing games or otherwise spending time on the Kartridge platform. In many cases, players earn these Tokens for free, so no actual revenue is generated in these transactions. Players may redeem these Tokens in lieu of spending money to purchase a premium game.
When Kartridge Tokens are used towards the purchase of your Game, we will pay you royalties at a royalty rate of THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT (35%) of the Game Price.
Tokens are an opt-out program for you on a per-game basis. If you prefer not to allow players to redeem Tokens for your Game, select the opt-out option for the Game in the Kartridge App. If needed, you may email games.team@kartridge.com for help with this.
Royalties for Advertising Revenue Generated by Your Game. If your Game is available on Kongregate.com AND views of your Game’s page generates advertising revenue, then we will pay you a royalty as follows:
You will receive a base royalty of TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT (25%) of the ad revenue associated with your Game.
If you use the Kongregate Stats API, you will receive a TEN PERCENT (10%) bonus royalty.
If your Game is exclusive to Kongregate, you will receive an additional FIFTEEN PERCENT (15%) bonus royalty.
The maximum possible royalty you can receive for based on ad revenue is FIFTY PERCENT (50%) of the net ad revenue received.
“Net ad revenue” is gross ad revenue less fees, commissions and expenses paid to third parties.
Use of Kongregate APIs for any other in-app revenue (including but not limited to “opt-in” or “incentivized” ads) will be treated as revenue with the same royalty share used for ads.
You may not have any in-app transactions or advertising within your Game except those provided through Kongregate APIs.
You agree that Kongregate, in its sole discretion, will determine royalty qualifications, percentages and amounts due to you, and that such qualifications and percentages are subject to change by Kongregate, subject to the restrictions on Kongregate’s changes to royalty terms as set forth herein.
Royalties for Kreds. If your Game is available on Kongregate.com, AND you accept Kreds as a form of payment in your Game, then we will pay you a royalty as follows:
The royalty for Kreds is currently SEVENTY PERCENT (70%) of the gross value of Kreds used in your Game.
The “gross value” of a Kred is calculated as an average across the site on Kongregate.com of gross sales and Kreds purchased. The gross value of one Kred has been stable at $0.092 USD since 2010. If we change the manner in which we calculate Kreds royalties, or the value of a Kred, we will try to provide reasonable notice and will post the updated information on http://developers.kongregate.com.. If duties, taxes or fees apply to the redemption of a Kred, the amount redeemed may be adjusted by Kongregate so that the net amount received by Kongregate remains at the current gross value of a Kred (calculated as an average site wide on Kongregate of gross sales and Kreds purchased).
To receive a royalty for Kreds, each Kreds transaction must comply with the following requirements:
You may not price items for sale in fractions of Kreds.
You may not conduct a transaction for which the promotion or execution is prohibited on Kongregate.
You may not accept Kreds as payment for tangible goods including as payment for anything that may subsequently be used to acquire tangible goods (defined as any good that is physically delivered to a user).
You cannot have a cross-application virtual currency that can be purchased with Kreds, i.e., you shall not accept Kreds as payment for a virtual currency or other stored value item that can be used outside of the application where the payment was completed.
You shall not provide incentives for players to move their accounts or make purchases off Kongregate, e.g., by promoting special deals or sales only available on another platform or website.
Except as a method of purchasing within your app in accordance with this Addendum, you shall neither sell, trade or exchange Kreds with any third party, nor shall you enable or allow others to do so.
You shall not offer any items, virtual currency, or services on or through Kongregate that require the consent or other rights from any third party unless you have obtained all such rights. You shall not offer any items, virtual currency, or service which would require us to pay any fee or royalty to any third-party.
If you cease service of your game for Kongregate players, any Kreds spent in your game within 30 days of the cessation date will be refunded to the players and you will not receive revenue share for them. This provides assurance to the players that their in-game purchases will be usable for at least 30 days. Because of this, and out of courtesy and respect to your players, we recommend giving at least 30 days' notice to players before your game ceases service.
At our discretion, we may approve or deny your request to accept Kreds and may revoke your eligibility to accept Kreds.
You are solely responsible for the resolution of disputes between yourself and users related to the use of Kreds in your Game.
Requirements for Royalty Payments.
To receive royalties, you must be at least 18 years old.
You must comply with Kongregate’s Upload Agreement and User Agreement. Failure to comply may result in Kongregate terminating your eligibility for receipt of royalties.
You must fulfill each transaction pursuant to the terms you offer; we only act as a service provider.
You understand that transactions with minors may be voidable by law and that you may be required to refund amounts paid.
Royalty Payment Process.
We remit payment for royalties approximately 45 days following the end of the last day of the month in which the royalty-related transactions occurred, except as otherwise set forth herein.
All references to currency in this Addendum is for United States dollars. As such, we will remit payment for royalties only in U.S. dollars.
We will remit payment for royalties only if we have your current banking information and any other information we need to make the payment on record, including, if required: identification, a completed IRS Form W-9 or W-8BEN on file, and business formation documentation. Your developer payment information page shows our current payout methods.
If a royalty payment for any given period would be less than the minimum payment threshold for your selected payout method, we will roll payment over to the next month unless your account is being deactivated or deleted. The current minimum payment thresholds for each payment method are shown on your developer payment information page.
If we make a royalty payment to you that we later determine should not have been made, you are liable to us for the full amount of the payment and you agree to reverse the payment or permit us to reverse the payment (and cooperate to effectuate the reversal as needed).
If you wish to dispute a royalty payment, you must notify us in writing within 30 days of receipt of the payment. Failure to do so constitutes a waiver by you of any claim relating to the amount of the royalties or payment.
Actions Kongregate May Take
We may suspend, remove or disable access to any product or service you offer at any time without notice. We will have no liability for suspending, removing, or disabling such access.
We may withhold from royalty payments any amounts that we determine were accepted due to your breach of any of Kongregate’s policies, were transferred based on fraudulent or illegal transactions, were alleged by a user to have been transferred without their consent, or resulted in returned, undelivered, rejected or defective goods or services or transactions.
We may delay royalty payments related to any dispute or investigation we are conducting. In such an event, we will notify you and will make all reasonable efforts to resolve the dispute or investigation within 90 days of the relevant transaction.
We may deduct from your royalty payment any amounts for which you are past due to us on any payment in connection with any Kongregate service.
If we are unable to pay you because you have not provided valid payment information or, where required, a completed IRS Form W-9 or W-8BEN or identification information, we may terminate your ability to accept royalties and process any remaining royalty in accordance with applicable law.
You agree to provide reasonable cooperation to us in preventing or investigating fraudulent and/or illegal transactions.
Transaction-Related Disputes
We may, in our sole discretion, assist in the resolution of such disputes. You agree to provide us reasonable cooperation in the resolution of any such disputes, including providing us with any records or other information we may request related to the dispute.
You agree that we may recover from you any actual monetary loss to us on account of any decision by us to provide refunds or other compensation to users as a result of their purchases from you (including those made with Kreds) or any claims made by third parties arising out of or in connection with your Game.
Indemnity. You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from and against any third party claim arising out of or in connection with your Game or your breach of this Addendum.
Other Terms
You will not use or disclose any user information obtained by you during a transaction for any purpose other than completing the transaction for which the user information was obtained.
You agree to notify Kongregate in a timely manner if you receive any inquiry from a government agency about your Game.
Kongregate shall be the merchant of record for the license of your Game. Each of us–Kongregate and you–shall be responsible for our own income and other taxes. Additionally, Kongregate complies with tax and legal information reporting requirements in various jurisdictions, and Kongregate will report payments made to you as required by law.
Kongregate may assign or delegate any of its obligations and/or rights arising under this Addendum without restriction.