Since the end of our deal with Twitch, news of the sale of CurseForge to Overwolf was revealed. This has opened up a potential solution to issues we faced whilst migrating our content to our app. Soon after, we opened a dialogue with the Overwolf team to look for potential opportunities for us to work together.
During these discussions, we took a much closer look at what Overwolf plans to bring to the table and also whether or not we felt that this would be a positive move for the FTB community. Along the way, we have also taken a close look at both the existing Overwolf app and how Overwolf practices as a company.
Prior to our contact, Overwolf had, as part of their privacy policy, the ability to allow them to sell data to third-party partners. This is a reasonably common practice in the industry. However, given the market that we specifically work in and the number of younger players that play Minecraft, this was our first area of concern. Soon after we raised this issue, Overwolf agreed and confirmed that they would cancel the contract with their third-party partner. Their Privacy Policy now reflects those changes.
The existing Overwolf app was the next area that we focused on. On review, we submitted several suggestions to the Overwolf team that they could look at improving moving forwards. This included them hiring an independent security contractor to conduct a full security audit. This is designed to highlight areas of concern regarding security and help them to prioritise and resolve any issues.
We are happy to say that without exception, the Overwolf team has been extremely happy to not only work with us on all of our concerns, but also issues raised by other members in our community. The initial areas of concern expressed have already been resolved and the independent security audit is already underway.
With these areas addressed, this now left us in a position to speak further to the Overwolf team about looking for ways in which FTB could work with the new CurseForge team. Given the investment that we have already put into the new FTB App and our plans for it, we felt that returning to using a third-party app for pack distribution would not be the ideal solution. After several weeks of talks, we agreed to a compromise. Among the things we wanted to fix with the new FTB App was to credit each mod with a download when installed as part of a modpack, something we couldn’t do with the old launcher. In addition, we wanted to look for ways to be able to distribute all of the FTB packs without having to worry about obtaining separate permission.
After a lot of consultation, we have now successfully come to an agreement with Overwolf. This is an agreement that we feel benefits everyone. It is good for FTB, good for Overwolf, good for mod developers and we believe it will also be good for end-users. There are a few areas that we are aware may concern people. However, we have and will continue to take all possible measures to protect the security of our users and to provide an app experience that is both simple to use and dedicated to Minecraft content; and be as transparent as possible.
As part of the agreement that we have struck, Overwolf is providing access to the Intel-Overwolf fund. This is a fund that developers can use to help build and develop their platforms and will allow FTB to operate while we implement the premium features that we have planned. For the first time, we are setting up an office space for FTB staff. The initial plan is to employ two full-time personnel, in addition, we plan to expand the team in the near future as resources allow. This will both allow us to work much closer with the community and the CreeperHost team as we continue to develop the FTB App. Additionally, this fund will also allow us to compensate some of the volunteers that have helped us along the way, such as mod/modpack developers and graphic artists.
In order to officially have access to the CurseForge API, part of the requirement is that we access it through the Overwolf Platform. Starting from some time in November, the FTB App will be hosted on the Overwolf platform, meaning that the Overwolf client will be installed with the FTB App, similarly to how Steam is installed with a game. This will give us access to various features that we plan to use in the future. In addition, it will be used to collect anonymised metrics which will be available for use by Overwolf, FTB and mod developers via the CurseForge dashboard, allowing us to see how many times modpacks and mods are downloaded and played; allowing mod developers to be properly credited for their downloads. For users of the app that do not wish for their data to be collected they will be able to opt out of this completely.
The FTB App will continue to be developed by CreeperHost. Full creative control of the app remains with FTB.
No one likes adverts, however, running something like CurseForge is not free. We believe it is fair for the various mod and modpack developers to be given the opportunity to earn some kind of revenue in exchange for the amount of work they put in. Whilst there are various ways for developers to generate revenue, none of them are really sustainable across the entire community. There are now hundreds if not thousands of developers out there. In order for something like the CurseForge Rewards Program (the program that pays authors) to be sustainable there needs to be a consistent revenue source. This is something that advertising can help provide.
With the upcoming migration to the Overwolf platform, we will be adding in a panel to the FTB App to run a video ad. This will run with the volume muted by default and will never directly interrupt your engagement with the app. Part of the revenue from this ad will be returned to Overwolf to be added directly to the fund that is distributed to the mod developers. Subscribers of the premium subscription will be given the opportunity to turn off advertising if they wish.
From the next update, we are including the optional ability to log in. Once logged in you will be able to install private modpacks that your friends have created. In addition to this, we’ve teamed up with CreeperHost to add a custom version of MineTogether, allowing you to add friends and chat to them in a private channel. This is currently in a beta state and will be expanded on over time.
We are excited to introduce premium accounts. This allows us to add a host of new features, the first of these being “cloud saves”. This will give premium users the ability to back up some or all of their individual instances to the cloud, including any changes that they may have made to that instance. We have a lot more features in the pipeline for premium accounts and will announce more details over the coming weeks and months.
Finally, we intend to allow other modpack developers to decide whether or not they want to see their modpacks show up on, or be distributed through the FTB App. Right now, we are still looking at the best way to implement this feature.
With the news of the 1.17 Minecraft release not expected until Summer 2021, we are hopefully moving into another sustained period of mod development. The entire team is looking forward to 2021. With the new addition of staff, we would like to take a fresh look at other potential areas we can expand into. For over a year now FTB has been a Bedrock Marketplace partner, and we will shortly be releasing our first content onto the Marketplace: A custom skin pack and an all-new FTB Egg Hunt Map.
All in all, we are incredibly excited about the future for both FTB and the wider Modded Minecraft community. We hope that you will all share our excitement for the future.
During these discussions, we took a much closer look at what Overwolf plans to bring to the table and also whether or not we felt that this would be a positive move for the FTB community. Along the way, we have also taken a close look at both the existing Overwolf app and how Overwolf practices as a company.
Prior to our contact, Overwolf had, as part of their privacy policy, the ability to allow them to sell data to third-party partners. This is a reasonably common practice in the industry. However, given the market that we specifically work in and the number of younger players that play Minecraft, this was our first area of concern. Soon after we raised this issue, Overwolf agreed and confirmed that they would cancel the contract with their third-party partner. Their Privacy Policy now reflects those changes.
The existing Overwolf app was the next area that we focused on. On review, we submitted several suggestions to the Overwolf team that they could look at improving moving forwards. This included them hiring an independent security contractor to conduct a full security audit. This is designed to highlight areas of concern regarding security and help them to prioritise and resolve any issues.
We are happy to say that without exception, the Overwolf team has been extremely happy to not only work with us on all of our concerns, but also issues raised by other members in our community. The initial areas of concern expressed have already been resolved and the independent security audit is already underway.
With these areas addressed, this now left us in a position to speak further to the Overwolf team about looking for ways in which FTB could work with the new CurseForge team. Given the investment that we have already put into the new FTB App and our plans for it, we felt that returning to using a third-party app for pack distribution would not be the ideal solution. After several weeks of talks, we agreed to a compromise. Among the things we wanted to fix with the new FTB App was to credit each mod with a download when installed as part of a modpack, something we couldn’t do with the old launcher. In addition, we wanted to look for ways to be able to distribute all of the FTB packs without having to worry about obtaining separate permission.
After a lot of consultation, we have now successfully come to an agreement with Overwolf. This is an agreement that we feel benefits everyone. It is good for FTB, good for Overwolf, good for mod developers and we believe it will also be good for end-users. There are a few areas that we are aware may concern people. However, we have and will continue to take all possible measures to protect the security of our users and to provide an app experience that is both simple to use and dedicated to Minecraft content; and be as transparent as possible.
As part of the agreement that we have struck, Overwolf is providing access to the Intel-Overwolf fund. This is a fund that developers can use to help build and develop their platforms and will allow FTB to operate while we implement the premium features that we have planned. For the first time, we are setting up an office space for FTB staff. The initial plan is to employ two full-time personnel, in addition, we plan to expand the team in the near future as resources allow. This will both allow us to work much closer with the community and the CreeperHost team as we continue to develop the FTB App. Additionally, this fund will also allow us to compensate some of the volunteers that have helped us along the way, such as mod/modpack developers and graphic artists.
In order to officially have access to the CurseForge API, part of the requirement is that we access it through the Overwolf Platform. Starting from some time in November, the FTB App will be hosted on the Overwolf platform, meaning that the Overwolf client will be installed with the FTB App, similarly to how Steam is installed with a game. This will give us access to various features that we plan to use in the future. In addition, it will be used to collect anonymised metrics which will be available for use by Overwolf, FTB and mod developers via the CurseForge dashboard, allowing us to see how many times modpacks and mods are downloaded and played; allowing mod developers to be properly credited for their downloads. For users of the app that do not wish for their data to be collected they will be able to opt out of this completely.
The FTB App will continue to be developed by CreeperHost. Full creative control of the app remains with FTB.
No one likes adverts, however, running something like CurseForge is not free. We believe it is fair for the various mod and modpack developers to be given the opportunity to earn some kind of revenue in exchange for the amount of work they put in. Whilst there are various ways for developers to generate revenue, none of them are really sustainable across the entire community. There are now hundreds if not thousands of developers out there. In order for something like the CurseForge Rewards Program (the program that pays authors) to be sustainable there needs to be a consistent revenue source. This is something that advertising can help provide.
With the upcoming migration to the Overwolf platform, we will be adding in a panel to the FTB App to run a video ad. This will run with the volume muted by default and will never directly interrupt your engagement with the app. Part of the revenue from this ad will be returned to Overwolf to be added directly to the fund that is distributed to the mod developers. Subscribers of the premium subscription will be given the opportunity to turn off advertising if they wish.
From the next update, we are including the optional ability to log in. Once logged in you will be able to install private modpacks that your friends have created. In addition to this, we’ve teamed up with CreeperHost to add a custom version of MineTogether, allowing you to add friends and chat to them in a private channel. This is currently in a beta state and will be expanded on over time.
We are excited to introduce premium accounts. This allows us to add a host of new features, the first of these being “cloud saves”. This will give premium users the ability to back up some or all of their individual instances to the cloud, including any changes that they may have made to that instance. We have a lot more features in the pipeline for premium accounts and will announce more details over the coming weeks and months.
Finally, we intend to allow other modpack developers to decide whether or not they want to see their modpacks show up on, or be distributed through the FTB App. Right now, we are still looking at the best way to implement this feature.
With the news of the 1.17 Minecraft release not expected until Summer 2021, we are hopefully moving into another sustained period of mod development. The entire team is looking forward to 2021. With the new addition of staff, we would like to take a fresh look at other potential areas we can expand into. For over a year now FTB has been a Bedrock Marketplace partner, and we will shortly be releasing our first content onto the Marketplace: A custom skin pack and an all-new FTB Egg Hunt Map.
All in all, we are incredibly excited about the future for both FTB and the wider Modded Minecraft community. We hope that you will all share our excitement for the future.
