Ads, Revenue, and API - WowUp and Overwolf Split Over Addon Development

Live Posted 2022/02/09 at 3:00 PM by Archimtiros

denial of their application for API access by Overwolfpartner with addon hosting competitor Wago.iothey mean adsNo Longer Turning a Blind Eyetaking over CurseForgeserious threat to both their business and the earnings of addon creators

Overwolf

CurseForge does not have an official API for 3rd parties who want to download files from its servers. The way some addon managers operate today, is by reverse engineering the calls between the Twitch Client and the CurseForge backend. A good analogy is someone reverse engineering the Spotify app to stream songs from Spotify’s servers without receiving Spotify’s or the artists’ consent to do so.
Unauthorized use of the CurseForge API introduces challenges that need solving. Most notably:

Authors did not give their consent to have their creations distributed outside CurseForge
Authors’ earnings will be impacted, as CurseForge has no way of monitoring engagement outside its own ecosystem, and changes are coming to the rewards program
Downloads originated from 3rd party services rely on CurseForge servers and CDN, incurring substantial costs and offering nothing to cover them

Restricted Access Creates New Competitionrestrict their APIAjourCursebreakerWowUp announced a partnership with Wago.ioMethod owned WeakAuras repositoryWe welcome competition. Competition leads to better products and a more developed community. Our ultimate goal has always been that people will choose CurseForge because it’s the best way to support addon developers, and because it is the best product out there, not because it is the only option. But while we welcome diversity in the marketplace, we can’t sponsor the costs of the competition that is building its user base on top of Curseforge infrastructure, metadata entered by addon developers and our server and CDN costs.The Fight Over Addon Developer Compensationdata collection concernsaverage monthly earnings increase of 700%DejaCharacterStatscommented on RedditAnecdotally, I have ~150K users of DCS and 75K users of DCS Classic. Users simply do not donate to mid sized popular addons such as mine, let alone the thousands of smaller addons. There are many reasons; bystander effect, uncertainty as to author identity/authenticity, belief addons are a hobby not to be profited from, etc. I started making addons during late Cataclysm. I make more in one month from Curse's ad rev share than I have received in donations for all of my addons combined over the last 9 years, including the last 5 years of DCS.WowUp Will Also Feature Adsonly if they also enable adsusing WowUp to download from Wago will require enabling ads

jliddev, via WowUp Patreon

However, to use the Wago.io addon provider, users will be required to have an ad shown in the corner of the app. I know what you’re thinking “ads!? I use WowUp to avoid ads!”. The good news is that you still can. If you do not want to see ads in your WowUp you can opt not to use the new Wago.io addon provider and they will not appear, simple as that.

Comments on this news post are locked.

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Comment by byne"WowUp will not have access to CurseForge addons" so its basically unusable now, then.Comment by TOMRUSI don't like this. Blizzard must take an action and stop this mess.Comment by VhyeBack to keeping a text file full of links to my addons and dumping addon managers. It's 2008 all over again. I hope Blizzard just nuked monetization of addons entirely.Comment by novadudeBack to keeping a text file full of links to my addons and dumping addon managers. It's 2008 all over again. I hope Blizzard just nuked monetization of addons entirely.Comment by VarusEUWell, this turned into a complete !@#$show.
Not that I'm very surprised, it's Overwolf, after all - everything they touch turns to #$%^.

I guess it's back to manually downloading and updating. These addon managers can burn in hellComment by TychonYou cannot have good addons and no monetization at the same time. The time required to program these addons does not grow on trees.Comment by EmeraldBlueI don' mind to use a software that helps with the creators of the addons being compensated.
What I do mind is how aggressively intrusive that software is, i.e. Overwolf.

Not to mention, being in the EU, I feel like they are one breath away from breaking the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) we have here (they may actually already), and then things get smoky.Comment by glassleo"WowUp will not have access to CurseForge addons" so its basically unusable now, then.Comment by EmmetcullenHonestly have not had any issues with CurseForge at all, the app runs smooth and doesn't hog any resources. I can see why they are clamping down on unauthorized downloads, and I bet the addon authors will enjoy more income.Comment by minka25Imagine being Overwolf and still thinking everyone will like you if you literally *&%$ everyone.Comment by thebdcWhy are Wow addon developers so obsessed with making money off their addons? There are thousands upon thousands of people working on OSS that everyone uses and nobody pays them ^&*!.Comment by TrooI would gladly pay someone like WoWUp a small monthly fee to be able to access the mod updating like I have been.

I will NOT give Overwolf anything.

So it's back to manually updating if I even feel like doing it. Good thing I barely play anymore.Comment by novadude"this may not always be the case if addon developers who have dedicated their livelihoods to maintaining these projects" wym lol trying to tell us people try to make a living off of making wow addons? i must be reading this wrong entirely. if i am reading this right i have 1 thing to say: #1 combo with extra lettuce, extra large coke pleeeeeeeaseComment by LostelfWish Blizzard would add an in-game addon manager already.Comment by alphatesterwill not touch curseforge with my pinky toeComment by Skullhawk13The fact they are treating this like a business really sad. It's not supposed to be one, and in fact it's against the terms of service to put a paywall behind add-ons. I hope once microsoft takes over they sort this out and put a stop on it.

Edit: I'm not saying that ads are a paywall, I'm saying that Add-on making is not supposed to be a business, But thanks for all the rudeness and hostility. If you're caring about Profit margins, and making add-ons is a viable career for you, that's a problem.Comment by OartholomewJust going to stop using add ons.Comment by KhetumBack to keeping a text file full of links to my addons and dumping addon managers. It's 2008 all over again. I hope Blizzard just nuked monetization of addons entirely.Comment by LainiWeizYou cannot have good addons and no monetization at the same time. The time required to program these addons does not grow on trees.Comment by NevcairielThe fact they are treating this like a buisness really sad. It's not supposed to be one, and in fact it's against the terms of service to put a paywall behind add-ons. I hope once microsoft takes over they sort this out and put a stop on it.

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