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Gaming Company Allows Fans to Print 3-D Merch

Valve, the parent company of gaming franchises such as “Dota 2,” “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” and “Team Fortress 2,” has partnered with 3-D printing company Shapeways to allow fans to create and sell their own 3-D printed merchandise based on their favorite games.

The program grants content creators permission to design 3-D items, and then gives them the option to promote and sell them on the Shapeways marketplace. Creators will have access to all of Valve’s software and hardware IP, and can upload their model design to Shapeways and indicate how many they’d like to be printed, with no minimums or maximums.

Gaming Company Allows Fans to Print 3-D Merch

The company will undertake all of the printing, using more than 60 different types of plastics, ceramics and metals. In exchange for access to the company’s licenses and permission to sell the printed merch both online and offline, Valve will receive 10% in royalties based on the cost of the individual pieces. Creators have already started producing items that are now for sale on Shapeways.

“Shapeways is excited to enable our design community to fully explore their passion for the Valve universe,” said Tom Finn, interim CEO of Shapeways, in a statement. “Never before has it been so easy for designers and fans to make physical objects based on their favorite games. We’re thrilled that Valve has decided to embrace and empower its fan community in this way, and we’re confident it will pave the way for a new movement in companies engaging with fandoms.”