Core, in a similar vein to Roblox, aims to act as an accessible way for new and experienced game makers alike to build their own games, which then live entirely on that free-to-play Core platform.
Manticore, the platfom's creator, has now earmarked $1 million to allow Core creators to monetize via a Creator Payouts Pilot Program, money that will then be paid out to devs that create and publish games within its game-creation-platform ecosystem.
The platform itself has been up and running in Alpha form for a few months now, and the freshly unveiled Creator Payouts Pilot Program is Core’s first attempt at allowing its game makers to monetize.
The pitch for the program is that participating creators will earn money based on an average of their daily active players across a single month, though there's no word on how long the pilot program aims to run with this exact setup. Per the example outlined in a blog post, the Core team says creators can earn $3 per average daily player on a monthly basis. So if a Core game is able to maintain an average of 500 daily active users across an entire calendar month, its creator could walk away with a $1,500 payout from the pilot program.
“We chose this system because we want creators to be unified in the mission of making fun games and bringing new players to Core,” explains the blog post. “You don’t need to manage subscriptions or design a vast catalog of microtransactions. Instead, the only thing you need to focus on is making great games that attract and retain players.”
However, not every Core game or creator is eligible to monetize this way. The pilot program itself is an invite-only gig, and half of the program's 100 seats have already been filled by folks that launched games on Core during the Alpha. Developers looking to snag one of those remaining seats would need to first launch a game on Core, reach a minimum of 50 average DAUs across a month, and point Manticore towards their project by filling out an applicaton form.
Core-curious game developers can find more in-depth details about the program in the FAQ here.