Last month, we brought you the first-ever easy-to-use content license so you could start creating and selling products inspired by your favorite Valve games and gaming hardware.
Now, we want to find the champions among you. Who will create the first killer Valve 3D printed miniatures, toys, jewelry, Steam Controller mods, and characters? To get your creative drives going, we’re launching the Valve Design Contest to reward the best designs with epic prizes from Valve and Shapeways. The grand prize winner will receive a coveted Team Fortress® 2 Grey Medic statue and $500 in Shapeways printing credit. Four additional runners up will win other Team Fortress® 2 statues, plus $100 in Shapeways printing credit. Both the grand prize winner and all runners up will also receive the Team Fortress® 2 soundtrack on both CD and LP.
Just upload your design, opt in to the Valve license agreement, and set it for sale in your shop by November 17th — and you’ll be automatically entered.
Remember, to create a Valve-related design, just upload your model to your shop (as always, make sure to use tags and accurate descriptions to make sure shoppers can find you), and you will automatically be prompted to opt in to the license agreement. Then, Valve’s game communities will get access to your products, and you can advertise and promote your Valve-related products anywhere you like.
Check out our Valve hub for inspiration and all the nitty-gritty details of how the license works. Then, go play Dota® 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive®, Team Fortress® 2, or Portal®. And when your next great idea strikes, show us what you can do!
1. HOW DO I ENTER?
Four quick steps to follow:
1) Design a Valve Games product or hardware
Using your favorite 3D modeling software, design a character, product or hardware based on Valve. Check out these for inspiration.
2) Upload your design to Shapeways
Open up a free Shapeways shop (if you don’t already have one). Upload your design to Shapeways and make sure that it’s ready to print.
3) Describe and tag your design to enter the Valve Licence agreement
In your model’s ‘Description’ field, tell us about your Valve product. Enter the tags related to the game or hardware your design is for and read and accept the licensing agreement. Make sure to complete this last step by Nov. 17.
While it is not required as part of your entry and will not impact your chances of winning (our lawyers made us say that), once you’ve entered let us know by sharing your entry on Twitter or Instagram with @Shapeways.
Fine print:
Shapeways Contest Rules
1. Eligibility. This contest is operated by Shapeways in collaboration with the Valve Corporation. It is open to Shapeways users over 13 years of age at the time of entry who live in a jurisdiction that does not prohibit this contest. Employees, officers, and directors of Shapeways or Valve and their immediate family are not eligible to enter. Judges of this contest and their immediate family are not eligible to enter. Individuals may enter more than one entry into the competition but may not do so by way of automated means. By entering this contest, you agree to be bound by these Rules. All entries must comply with and are also bound by the Shapeways general Terms and Conditions, Shop Owner Terms, and any other relevant rules governing behavior on the Shapeways website.
2. Prize. There will be one winner and four runners up. The winning and running up entries may be featured in Valve and Shapeways promotional material. The winner will receive one Team FortressⓇ 2 Grey Medic statue and $500 in Shapeway printing credit. Four runners up will each receive a Team FortressⓇ 2 statue (not Grey Medic) and $100 in Shapeways printing credit. Both the winner and all four runners up will receive Team FortressⓇ 2 soundtrack on both CD and LP.
3. Contest period. This contest is open from 12:01 am New York time on October 10, 2017 to 12:00 pm New York time on November 17, 2017.
4. How to Enter. Entries must opt in to the Valve licensing program during the period of the contest on Shapeways, and be uploaded to a public Shapeways shop and for sale in that shop.
5. Winner Selection. Shapeways will select the winner from the pool of applicants by November 29, 2017. Shapeways will be prepared to award the winning and running up prizes to alternates in the event they cannot be contacted in a reasonable amount of time. The jury selected by Shapeways and Valve will determine the winner based solely on their individual aesthetic and intellectual judgment as to how well the entries capture the essence of the Valve-Shapeways licensing program. In the event of a tie, the entry that is deemed to be most unique will be declared the winner.
6. Winner notification. The winner will be notified via the email in their Shapeways account. Upon contact, Shapeways may need to obtain confirmation of the winner’s eligibility. If Shapeways cannot contact the winner through the contact information in their Shapeways account in a reasonable amount of time, a runner-up will receive the prize. If a runner-up cannot be contacted, Shapeways will select a third place finisher to receive the prize.
7. Retention and Assignment of Rights. Entrants retain the copyright in their entries. By entering the contest, entrants grant Shapeways and Valve an irrevocable, perpetual, and royalty-free license to use the entries for promotional purposes, as well as to manufacture the entry for display and promotional purposes.
8. Taxes. The winner will be solely responsible for paying all national, state, and local taxes that may be due on winnings and, as a condition of receiving the prize, Shapeways may require the winner complete tax documentation.
9. Liability and Jurisdiction. All national, state, and local laws and regulations apply; void where prohibited. All disputes arising out of or connected with this Contest will be resolved exclusively by a court located in Manhattan, New York, USA. Decisions by Shapeways regarding the interpretation of these rules are final. By participating in this contest, you agree to release Shapeways and Valve, and their respective agents from any and all liability, claims, or actions of any kind of injuries, damages, or losses to persons and property which may be sustained in connection with the receipt, ownership, possession, use, or misuse of any prize. Shapeways reserves the right to amend these official rules and to permanently disqualify from this contest any person it believes has intentionally violated these official rules. Shapeways reserves the right to suspend or cancel this Contest in the event of hacking, security breach, or other tampering. Any questions regarding this contest should be directed to legal@shapeways.com.
10. Additional Considerations. Shapeways and Valve are not responsible for (i) any typographical or other error in any communication relating to the Contest; (ii) lost, illegible, late, misdirected, or incomplete, entries or emails; (iii) interrupted or unavailable satellite, network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), websites, telephone, cable or other connections; (iv) any technical failure or jumbled, garbled, corrupted, scrambled, failed, delayed, or misdirected transmissions; (v) hardware, software or network malfunctions; (vi) other errors of any kind whether human, mechanical, or electronic; (vi) any damage to Participant’s or any other person’s computer resulting from participation of the Contest or downloading or uploading any materials.
Shapeways reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to (a) abbreviate, modify, suspend, cancel or terminate the Contest, without notice or other obligation, in the event that Shapeways is prevented from continuing with the Contest or the integrity or feasibility of the Contest is undermined in any respect, including due to fire, flood, epidemic, earthquake, labor dispute, tampering or other unlawful act, or if, in the sole opinion of Shapeways, the Contest is not capable of running as planned by reason of infection by computer virus, worms, bugs, tampering, hacking, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes which, in sole opinion of the Shapeways, corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Contest; (b) determine winners from entries received prior to action taken, or as otherwise deemed fair and equitable by Shapeways; and/or (c) disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry or judging or process or operation of the Contest.