Seller Terms

Conditions for selling on Studio Forward: application, listings, commission, payouts, refunds, intellectual property and termination.

1. Scope

These Seller Terms apply to anyone who opens a store on Studio Forward ("Seller"), in addition to the Terms of Service and the Terms of Sale. By submitting a seller application, you accept them.

2. Becoming a seller

• You must complete the seller application (identity, brand, products, rights and policies, payout setup). Your answers must be truthful; false answers are a ground for refusal or termination.

• Every application is reviewed by our team. Standard review takes up to 12 business days. You can pay a one-time priority review fee (€4.99) to get a decision within 2 business days. The priority fee speeds up the review only; it never guarantees approval. If we miss the 2-business-day target, the fee is refunded in full on request.

• We may refuse an application, in particular when the applicant cannot demonstrate ownership of the content they plan to sell, or when their activity presents a risk for Buyers. The reason is shown on your seller page.

• You may only hold one store, unless we agree otherwise in writing.

3. Payment account (Stripe Connect)

• Sales are paid to your own Stripe account, opened through Stripe Connect from Seller dashboard → Finances. Stripe verifies your identity and bank details; Studio Forward never sees or stores your bank details.

• You must accept Stripe's terms (Stripe Connected Account Agreement). Stripe may ask for additional information at any time; until your account is active, your Products cannot be purchased.

• You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you give Stripe and for keeping it up to date.

4. Listings and content standards

• You may only list Products you created yourself or have the right to distribute commercially, with all necessary rights to third-party elements included (models, textures, sounds, fonts, libraries). You must respect the licenses of any open-source code you include.

• Each listing must have: an accurate name and description, the right game and category, real screenshots or videos, the version, the included features, installation instructions, and a working file or download link.

• Listings are reviewed before publication. We may refuse or unpublish a listing that does not meet these standards or the Terms of Service.

• Prohibited: leaked, cracked or stolen content; content using the trademarks of game publishers in a misleading way; malware, backdoors, hidden remote access, cryptominers, obfuscated code designed to hide such behaviour; code that sends data to third parties without clear disclosure; "require" or "loadstring" calls fetching remote code that can be changed after purchase without disclosure; anything that breaks the rules of the target game platform.

• Price changes must be genuine. A "compare-at" price must reflect a price actually charged previously for a reasonable period. Fake discounts are prohibited.

5. Updates and support

• You commit to fixing reported bugs that make a Product unusable, within a reasonable time.

• Updates must be published as new versions of the same Product and are free for existing Buyers.

• You agree to answer Buyer questions sent through the Studio Forward messaging system within 72 hours on business days, and to provide reasonable installation help. Support must remain on the Platform; you may not ask Buyers to pay for basic support of a Product they bought.

• You may not ask Buyers to pay outside the Platform, or redirect them to buy your Products elsewhere.

6. Commission and fees

• Studio Forward charges a commission of 10% on the price paid by the Buyer (after discounts), collected automatically by Stripe as an application fee when the payment is captured. The rate applying to a sale is recorded on the order at the time of purchase.

• Stripe charges its own processing fees on your Stripe account, according to Stripe's pricing.

• We may change the commission rate with at least 30 days' notice. The new rate only applies to sales made after it takes effect.

• Discount codes you create reduce the price paid by the Buyer; the commission is calculated on the discounted price.

• Affiliate commissions (see the Affiliate Program Terms) are paid by Studio Forward out of its own commission and never reduce your share.

7. Review window, capture and payouts

• The Buyer's card is authorized at purchase and captured automatically after 5 days, unless a refund request, fraud report or dispute is open. Studio Forward may cancel an authorization when a refund request is justified or fraud is suspected.

• Once captured, the funds are on your Stripe account and paid out to your bank according to your Stripe payout schedule.

8. Refunds, disputes and chargebacks

• You agree to the refund policy in the Terms of Sale, including Buyer disputes filed within 5 days of purchase and the possible outcomes (full refund, no refund or product fix).

• If a refund is issued after capture, the sale amount, minus the processing fees, is deducted from your Stripe balance; the commission is refunded proportionally.

• Chargebacks are handled on your Stripe account. You are responsible for responding to them through your Stripe dashboard and for amounts debited by Stripe. Studio Forward can provide order details (purchase date, license, download history) to help you.

• Sellers with a high dispute rate may be subject to account review. You must describe your Products accurately and respond promptly to Buyer inquiries.

9. Intellectual property and DMCA

• You keep ownership of your Products. You grant Studio Forward a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, reproduce, display and distribute your Products and listing content to Buyers, and to use your store name, logo and listing media to promote the Platform (website, newsletters, social media), for as long as the Products are listed and for a reasonable period after.

• Downloads may include a license fingerprint added by Studio Forward to trace leaks. You may not ask us to remove it for Buyers.

9 bis. Seller tools (webhooks, API, placeholders, sale events)

• Webhooks and API tokens give you a copy of your orders and Buyer data (account ID, email, items, amounts). You may use it only to deliver, support and license-check your Products, keep it secure, never sell it or use it for unsolicited marketing, and delete it when no longer needed. You are responsible for your endpoints and for keeping your tokens and signing secrets confidential; revoke a token immediately if it leaks.

• Placeholders may only be used for license verification and leak tracing. A Product must work normally for a legitimate Buyer: no hidden kill switch, remote code execution, data collection about players or backdoor triggered by a placeholder or a license check.

• Sale events change your prices automatically for the dates you choose. The crossed-out price shown is your price before the event; you must not raise a price shortly before a sale to inflate the displayed discount.

• Discord notifications are posted to the channel you choose; Buyer emails are never included.

• Upon a valid DMCA takedown notice, Studio Forward removes or disables the content, notifies you, issues a strike against your account and lets you file a counter-notice. Sellers with repeated valid DMCA strikes are subject to account restrictions and permanent suspension under our repeat-infringer policy.

10. Taxes

• You are solely responsible for declaring your income and paying any taxes, social contributions and VAT that apply to you.

• Studio Forward may be required by law (for example the EU DAC7 directive) to collect and report information about Sellers to tax authorities. You agree to provide the requested information. Failure to provide it may lead to the suspension of payouts or of your store.

11. Data protection

When you receive Buyer data (order numbers, names, emails visible in your dashboard or messages), you may only use it to fulfil and support the sale. You may not add Buyers to mailing lists or contact them for marketing without their consent, and you must protect that data in line with applicable data protection law. See the Privacy Policy.

12. Messaging and conduct

Conversations with Buyers are monitored automatically for scams and can be reported. Harassment, threats, requests for off-platform payment, or attempts to obtain Buyers' credentials lead to immediate suspension.

13. Suspension and termination

• We may suspend a store or unpublish Products in case of fraud, infringement, repeated justified refunds, abusive behaviour, unresolved security issues or breach of these terms. Except in urgent cases, we tell you the reason and how to appeal.

• You may close your store at any time by contacting Support. Pending authorizations, refund obligations, chargebacks and tax reporting remain in effect after closure. Buyers keep access to Products they purchased.

14. Official store

Products of the official Studio Forward store are sold by Studio Forward, and 100% of their revenue goes to Studio Forward. They are subject to the same listing standards and Buyer protections as every other store.

15. Changes

We may update these Seller Terms with at least 30 days' notice for changes that affect your rights or fees. If you disagree, you may close your store before the changes take effect.