Introducing Premium mods for ARK: SA!
Premium mods will reward you for your hard effort and generate revenue from users who purchase your mods.
We want to ensure premium mods are indeed premium, and this article will explain the expectations, requirements, and logistics around creating premium mods for ARK: SA.
This article will cover the following:
- Premium mods requirements
- Pricing and finance
- Expectations from authors
- Expectations from CurseForge
- Failing to meet the requirements
For a more detailed version of these guidelines, please visit our Terms of Service.
Premium mods for ARK SA can only be sold through CurseForge. You are not allowed to sell your premium mods on your own, nor through any other third-party vendor. This will guarantee that purchased premium mods will be available for gamers, while maintaining the planned revshare described below.
Your mods will be available for users to buy in-game, in two instances:
In the mod page
When joining a modded server using premium mods
Once a user purchased a mod, they can use it as much as they like, whether in a single play mode or when joining a server using this mod.
At this point - We do not support cross commerce for ARK SA. Gamers cannot use a mod purchased on PC on other platforms and vice versa.
Take me to...
- Premium mods requirements
- Pricing and finance
- Expectations from authors
- CurseForge commitment to mod authors
- Failing to meet requirements
- Premium mod FAQ
Premium mods requirements
Not all mods will be eligible to become premium mods. As we want to ensure the money gamers spend on mods is justified, we have set requirements for premium mods to hold up to. These requirements, mentioned below, will be evaluated by Studio Wildcard and our moderation team when a premium mod is submitted for moderation.
Premium mod should deliver added value
A premium mod should expand the gamer’s experience meaningfully.
We expect an alignment between the value given and the price asked for the mod. The higher the price, the higher the expected value to be delivered.
Premium mod should be high quality
For a mod to be premium, it should be well crafted, with attention to details, and generally to be with the highest quality possible.
Premium mod’s project page
We will give extra attention to the premium mod’s project page. For premium mods, the project page should always include the following:
- High quality images, allowing the user to evaluate the mod and to see what they will purchase
We will not approve a project page with no images for premium mods - Detailed description which will allow users to clearly understand what is included in the mod and what is the added value gained by purchasing it
- Video is not a must, yet it is highly recommended to have a video to allow users to see a short demo of your mod before purchasing it
- Comments are always enabled - We want to allow users to review and share feedback on the mod, and to have a direct communication with the mod author transparently, available for all other users to see.
Premium mod should be a standalone
Your premium mod must be a standalone. It cannot require users to download your past creations or other users’ creations, free or paid, in order to be able to use them.
Your premium mod should be able to deliver high-quality content on its own.
Usage of store-bought assets in premium mods
The use of marketplace assets is allowed to ensure high-quality content in premium mods while offering flexibility to mod authors, provided they add clear value for the gamer. This approach supports authors who may not have expertise in modeling or animation but want to create engaging content.
Pricing for mods using store-bought assets will start at $2, capped at a maximum of $5, depending on the added value.
To maintain the premium nature of mods, the following guidelines must be adhered to:
- Cosmetics: If your mod is intended to be a cosmetic mod (Creatures / Outfits / Structures / Weapons) and uses marketplace assets, it should be defined as a custom cosmetic mod, ensuring all players can view it
- Gender compatibility: Cosmetics should ideally be usable by both male and female character models
- Proportion compatibility: Cosmetics must work with character proportions based on basic bone scales (not necessarily body morphs)
- Colorization support: Players should be able to customize the color of cosmetics to express uniqueness
- Rigging quality: Mods should avoid significant rigging issues to maintain a polished appearance
- Bonus: For extra value, consider adding "First Person View" hand setups
Studio Wildcard and our moderation team will review all mods using marketplace assets to ensure they meet these guidelines.
Pricing and finance
Mod pricing
As the mod author, you can select your mod’s price from predefined price tiers, set by Studio Wildcard.
The available tiers are: $2 / $5 / $10 / $15
Once you select a price tier, it will be the same for all platforms.
As mentioned above, the mod’s price should be in correlation to the value it delivers. Studio Wildcard and our moderation team will review this once a mod is submitted to moderation. The higher the price, the more value is expected.
Currency conversions
When needed, currency conversion will occur at checkout. The currency conversion is owned by the payment processor (Tebex on PC and Xbox and PlayStation on the consoles), and CurseForge is not responsible for these conversion rates or any implication they may have on final pricing.
Revshare for your creations
The price selected by the author will determine the payment that the mod author receives. The net revenue (after deducting platform fees, gateway fees, refunds, and applicable taxes) will be shared as follows:
PC (platform fee is part of the revshare)
50% of the revenue goes to the mod author
25% of the revenue goes to Studio Wildcard
20% of the revenue goes to CurseForge
5% of the revenue goes to Tebex
NOTE: The gateway fee depends on the payment method selected by the user and their geo. The fee split across all wallets (except Tebex) according to the revshare
Xbox/Playstation (platform fees are 30% before the revshare)
50% of the revenue goes to the mod author
25% of the revenue goes to Studio Wildcard
25% of the revenue goes to CurseForge
Sales taxes are not included in the price and if applicable, will be added on top of the selected price at the checkout.
Example for $10 premium mod on PC
For transaction with 2.4% gateway fee
Wallet | Revshare | Gateway fee | Net revenue |
Author | 50% | 0.12 | 4.88 |
Wildcard | 25% | 0.06 | 2.44 |
Overwolf | 20% | 0.06 | 1.94 |
Example for $10 premium mod on console
Platform fees is a flat 30% and include gateway fees inside
Wallet | Revshare | Net revenue |
Author | 50% | 3.5 |
Wildcard | 25% | 1.75 |
Overwolf | 25% | 1.75 |
Payout cadance and methods
You will receive your payout on a monthly basis in a net 30 manner. For example, every mod purchase made in January, will be paid to you by the end of February. This will include payout from all platforms.
Payouts will be delivered directly to your linked Tebex wallet
Refunds handling and policy
The user is eligible for a refund if he didn’t install the premium mod for 14 days after purchasing it and if the purchased mod is broken. Studio Wildcard and CurseForge hold the right to refund users based on other considerations, as they see fit.
In case of a refund, the money will be deducted from the author’s monthly payout, according to the revshare mentioned above (i.e. 50% of the refund). Refunds are managed by the payment processors.
Changing free mods into premium mods
Once a mod is launched as a free mod and downloaded by users, it will stay free. You cannot change a free mod into a premium mod as it is. That being said, you can expand your free mod with additional meaningful value and make the new mod/project a standalone premium mod.
The new mod version’s pricing should only price the additional value-added and not the entire creation from scratch.
We do recommend you create a free version of your premium mod to allow users to try out and assess your mod before purchasing it.
You are able to change a premium mod into a free mod at any time as you see fit.
Expectations from authors
Mod maintenance
We expect you to provide support for your premium mod and to make sure it is working as declared. Failing to do so will result in refunding users and eventually removing your premium mod from the store.
Responsiveness SLA
Once your mod is reported as not working, we expect the following response time:
Within 24 hours - You should add a “Known issues” section and recognize the issue on the mod’s description. If this is a mod breaking issue, this section should be at the top of the description. Ideally, with an estimate of time to fix the issue (not a must)
Fix the issue within a reasonable timeframe while maintaining communication with the CurseForge team
Mod takedown by the author
Once users purchase your mod, they should be able to use it. This means if you delete a premium mod, it will no longer be available for download or purchase and users who already purchased it, will still be able to play with it.
Price changes
You are able to change the price of your mod from one tier to another. If you decide to do so be aware that:
Your new price tier will need to be reviewed and approved by CurseForge moderation team
Any changes will only affect new purchases and will not impact users who already purchased the mod
IP ownership
Mod authors creating premium mods are warrants that they have all intellectual property rights necessary for selling and monetizing this mod. You are not allowed to sell any mod holding materials which are copyrighted (unless clearly contracted).
CurseForge commitment to mod authors
We want to see you thrive. We will always commit our best intentions and efforts to help you generate as much revenue as possible from your creations. Therefore we commit to the following:
Mod distribution
We will do our best to distribute your mod fairly on the relevant platforms alongside other premium and free mods.
Marketing and promotions
We will include your premium mod on various marketing channels and promotions handled by CurseForge and Studio Wildcard. This includes promotions inside the ARK: SA game, marketing campaigns on various social media platforms, and ad-hoc marketing campaigns, with no additional costs to the mod author.
Ecosystem maintenance
We are solely accountable for the CurseForge ecosystem and will always do our best to keep the ecosystem active and your creations available for a wide audience.
Users support
Studio Wildcard and CurseForge’s support team will support users with mod installation and usages. While it is up to you to ensure your mod is working, it is up to us to ensure users can use it properly.
Failing to meet requirements
We and/or Studio Wildcard hold the right to refuse a mod from going live if we feel it does not meet the basic requirements for a premium mod as mentioned in the “Premium mods requirements”.
Suppose you fail to meet the requirements under the “Expectations from authors” section. In that case, CurseForge holds the right to:
Take down your premium mod
Prevent you from uploading future premium modsWith no liability.
We want to ensure you have the best experience as a mod author while ensuring our gamers enjoy high-quality mods with great value!
Premium mod FAQ
Can everyone submit a premium mod?
Yes! Keep in mind the 1st premium mod of every author will be carefully reviewed by the CurseForge and Wildcard teams, to make sure it is indeed meets the required standards of a premium mod. Think you got what it takes? Go ahead and submit your mod here.
How can I submit a premium mod?
If you wish to submit a premium mod, just fill this form and our team will reach out to you within few days.
Are there premium mods for other games on CurseForge?
Currently no. The only game on CurseForge with premium mods is ARK: Survival Ascended
Can I get paid via PayPal or other payment solutions?
No you cannot. Premium mod authors must have a Tebex wallet. This is the only method to get paid for your premium mods.