Crayta goes FREE and heads for Epic Games Store on 10th March!

We’re incredibly excited to announce the biggest update to Crayta since we launched last summer!

There’s a lot to share but the highlights are as follows:

• Crayta: Starter Edition launches FREE on Stadia now
• Stadia version now supports streaming feature Crowd Play Beta
• PC version of Crayta confirmed for Early Access on Epic Games Store on 10th March, with full cross-play with Stadia
• New Battle Pass progression system to be introduced on 10th March
• New Editions introduced (coming 10th March)
• Black Creators’ Prize Fund & Mentoring Programme extended (and existing Monthly Creators’ Prize Fund to continue)

Since we first landed on Stadia last July, we’ve been blown away by the passionate and dedicated community of players and creators that has joined us. Between them they’ve created and enjoyed thousands of amazing new games, and we’re excited to see what else they create once the door is open to everyone.

Let’s take a look at each of the big announcements one-by-one:

Crayta: Starter Edition — free!

Stadia Pro subscribers have been able to claim the Premium Edition for free since we launched, but this is the first time that the all Stadia players can now permanently get hold of the Starter Edition of the game for nothing.

All the creation tools and UGC content remain free in all versions, but we’ve pared back the cosmetics to bring this new Starter Edition to the store. If you want to customise your character further or access new ways to express yourself in game then you still can by purchasing the bits you’d like to use, via Crayta Credits or real currency.

Alternatively, you’ll be able to unlock an endless array of new themed cosmetics by purchasing our new Battle Passes soon too (see below for more info).

Crowd Play Beta

We’re proud to be the latest title to support Stadia’s platform feature Crowd Play Beta. Streamers on YouTube will now be able to invite their viewers to join them in-game to play or create, all at the press of a button.

For more information on how Crowd Play Beta works in Crayta, watch our video here.

PC Crayta on Epic Games Store

Yes, it’s true — we’re heading to PC, and we’re looking forward to launching into Early Access on Epic Games Store on March 10th. Our store page is live now, so you can favourite and wishlist us, or take advantage of our pre-launch 30% discount if you pre-purchase either the Champion Edition or the Deluxe Edition (see below for more details).

Once the PC version is live, the game will also support full account-linking, cross-play, and cross-progression with the Stadia version.

New Battle Passes

The daily progression system is now being retired (don’t worry — all existing users will automatically have all remaining items unlocked next time they log in!), and will shortly be replaced by our new Battle Passes. These themed passes will each unlock a wealth of fantastic new outfits, emotes and other cosmetics, and players will earn XP by completing Creator Challenges within the games on the system.

We’ve been encouraging our creators to include more and more Challenges in their games for a little while, and this is why! We wanted to come up with a system that not only encouraged creators to be ever-more creative with their game mechanics, but which also encouraged players to try out as big a variety of games as possible.

By combining the efforts of creators and players together in this way, every part of the community has a vested interest in engaging with the system and moving it forwards.

We’ll be revealing the theme of the first Battle Pass soon.

New Editions

You won’t notice much difference on the Stadia store today (except for the arrival of the free Starter Edition) but as of March 10th you’ll see some slight changes.

From that point you’ll be able to get hold of three main editions, as follows:

• Crayta: Starter Edition — F2P base game with access to all the creation tool and games, plus a small starter selection of cosmetics
• Crayta: Champion Edition — $49.99 — contains everything in the Starter Edition, plus the ‘Premium Pack’ of cosmetics, 2 extra theme packs, 500 Credits, Battle Pass 1 (from March 10th) and Battle Pass 2 (in Q2)
• Crayta: Deluxe Edition — $59.99 ($19.99 for Pro subscribers) — contains everything in Champion Edition, plus 1 extra theme pack and 1000 credits

Aside from that, if you’re on Stadia you will also still see the Premium Edition:

• Crayta: Premium Edition — (free to Pro subscribers only) — contains everything in the Starter Edition, plus the ‘Premium Pack’ of cosmetics, 4 extra theme packs, 500 Credits

If you already own any version of Crayta, or you don’t want to invest in one of the bigger bundles, you’ll also be able to buy each Battle Pass on its own for $9.99 (or $6.99 if you’re a Stadia Pro subscriber), or a 2 Battle Pass Bundle for $14.99.

Black Creators’ Prize Fund & Mentoring Programme

We originally planned our Black Creators’ Prize Fund & Mentoring Programme to run until the end of 2020 but we’re delighted to announce that we’re extending it until the end of May 2021.

Covid has sadly meant that we’ve not yet been able to kick off the mentoring side of the Programme as quickly as we would have liked, but it’s coming really soon and we look forward to welcoming some new ‘mentees’ over the coming months.

For more details on how the Fund works (including how to apply), please head here: https://developer.crayta.com/black-creators-prize-fund-mentoring-programme/.

And finally, an update on our Monthly Creators’ Prize Fund

Our long-term plan is for all our creators to have the potential to earn a sustainable income from their work in Crayta (as we explained here), but while we build up our player base, our Monthly Prize Fund is our way of rewarding our most successful game-makers in the meantime.

The Prize Fund has been hard fought over ever since launch, and so far we’ve paid out over a quarter of a million dollars to UGC creators. Several of our most prolific creators have already netted over $25,000 each.

The fund will be continuing in 2021, with a larger number of prizes and a renewed focus on Creator Challenges (see above for the obvious reasons why!). You can find all the details of how the Fund works over on our developer portal here.

We’d like to leave you with the words of our highest-earning Crayta game maker to date — TigerTitan, who has won a massive $31,000 from the Monthly Prize Fund so far. A digital marketing analyst from Illinois with no previous game creation experience, the impact that Crayta has had on TigerTitan has been, quite literally, life-saving, as he explains:

“I haven’t had time to game much since PS2 days so could never justify spending $500 on a console; when Stadia came along it seemed like the perfect solution. With Covid lockdowns meaning that I didn’t have friends nearby who I could play with, Crayta offered the perfect way for me to play alone but still collaborate with and feel connected to people.

The Crayta community is incredible and the support I’ve had from fellow creators has been unreal. I would have had no clue where to start without them, and being part of the community has been really important to me over the last few months — they allowed me to get in the game and stay in the game.

It’s blown me away how popular my games so far have been, but the financial rewards have impacted my family in profound ways too. Last year my brother contracted a serious blood infection — my winnings from the Crayta Prize Fund have enabled me to pick up the cost of his medical bills when he wasn’t able to work. I don’t want to be melodramatic but it literally saved his life and I’m so grateful for the experience and the opportunity that this game has offered me.”