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Get Paid to Make Games

Turn your game dev hobby into a paid project.

Creator Success is a guided pathway into paid game development for individual game developers and small indie studios.

It is designed for people who already have game development skills but need a clearer route from building for fun to working on a funded Decentraland game project.

This is not a buildathon. You do not need to build a finished game and then compete for funding.

Instead, we take you through a structured development process: shape the idea, prove you can build it, receive funding to test it properly, improve the design, and work towards a live release.

You will build alongside other creators, test your work with real players, and get feedback from developers who understand the craft. Along the way, you build practical experience in game design documentation, production scoping, GitHub workflows, playtesting, retention design, mobile development, and shipping a real game.

The goal is not only to fund your game. It is to help you become better at making and shipping games professionally.

How much funding is available?

Creator Success funds games in stages, starting with up to $4,100 across V0 and V1. Games that show strong retention can then be considered for additional V2 and V3 funding rounds.

V0: The Vertical Slice — $1,000 USD

Funding to build a small, representative version of your game that lets us test the core idea with players. We call this a “vertical slice”.

V0 helps us test two things: whether the game idea has potential, and whether we work well together through a real development cycle. It is designed to be the start of an ongoing creative relationship, not a one-off prize.

V1: The 4 Week Scope — $3,100 USD

If V0 is successful, we work together to define a focused 4 week V1 Scope.

V1 turns what worked in the vertical slice into the first complete playable version of the game, released in Decentraland.

What happens after V1?

Games showing strong player retention can be considered for further development and funding.

Progression is not automatic. Each stage is based on what we learn from playtesting, live player data and the potential for further development. Strong projects can therefore move from one small paid project into an ongoing series of development stages.

What kinds of games are we looking for?

Creator Success is looking for high-retention social games.

We want to build experiences that people enjoy with others and have a reason to return to day after day. The most important question is:

Why will somebody come back and play this game again tomorrow?

Strong Creator Success ideas have three things at their centre:

a clear game loop + meaningful social play + a reason to return

Your game idea should be easy to understand, replayable, built around progression and designed so that other players make the experience better.

When can you apply?

The first round of V0 applications is open until November 30, 2026.

Applications are reviewed and accepted on a weekly basis, so you can apply as soon as your project is ready. You do not need to wait for the deadline.

If your project is not selected, you can keep developing it and apply again. You can reapply as many times as you like while applications are open.

Your first application is for V0 funding, $1,000 USD.

Note: You must be over 18 years old to apply.

How to apply

There are six steps.

Before designing a game for Decentraland, experience it as a player.

[Download Decentraland]

Once you are in Decentraland, open Discover → Places and play at least three of the Featured games.

As you play, take short notes on:

  • What do you understand immediately, and what is confusing?
  • How do other players improve or change the experience?
  • What works well, and what would you change?
  • What makes you want to come back another day?

This is part of the application process. The V0 application form will ask you about the games you played and what you learned from them.

Be sure to return to at least two of the same games on another day. Did the reason to come back actually work? What felt different on your second visit?

Spend at least 90 minutes exploring Decentraland, including at least 10 minutes in each of three Featured games. You can spread this time across multiple sessions and spend the rest exploring other games, experiences or events to understand what creators are building in Decentraland today.

2. Build your first Decentraland scene

Next, download Creator Hub and get hands-on with the tools you will use to build your game.

Download Creator Hub

Once installed, follow the SDK Quick Start to use Creator Hub and code to build your first scene.

Use this first scene to get comfortable with:

  • running and testing a scene;
  • adding interactions;
  • working with the Decentraland SDK.

3. Start your game project

Now pick a game idea you’re excited to build. It doesn’t need to be fully figured out. A rough idea is enough to start.

First, create a project for the idea. You will use it throughout the application and, if funded, continue developing through Creator Success:

  1. Create a new Decentraland scene for your game idea.
  2. Give the scene your game’s working name.
  3. Create a new GitHub repository for the scene.
  4. Create a /design folder inside the repository. You’ll use this for development work in the next step.

4. Develop your Game Design Document

Now develop your Game Design Document (GDD). This is a short working document that defines what the game is, what you want to test first, and why players would keep playing and return on another day.

You’ll save your GDD at /design/gdd.md

You can create it in either of two ways:

Decentraland’s Game Design Skills help you develop your idea against the Creator Success criteria using an AI assistant such as Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Codex.

Download and share the skills files below with your preferred AI assistant and ask it to guide you through the process. It will help you work through the key design questions and turn your decisions into a clear GDD.

Download the Game Design Skills

Complete the template yourself

You do not need to use AI to apply. You can download the same template and complete it yourself.

Download the GDD Template

You can also download a completed example GDD here. This is the level of detail you should aim for:

GDD Example: Dock 7

Whichever route you choose, the design decisions are yours. We want to understand how you think about the game, not how well an AI can write the document for you.

5. Build your test scene

Now turn a small part of your game idea into a working Decentraland test scene.

The goal is to show that your team can take the game described in your GDD and make part of it playable.

Your test scene should include at least one game interaction, preferably from your core mechanic, with a clear connection to what is described in the GDD. You can also use it to show relevant team strengths, such as visual direction or UX.

Keep the scope small. We are not asking you to build the vertical slice before you are funded.

Publish the test scene to your own Decentraland World. See Publishing Options for how to do this.

Before you apply, make sure your repository contains:

  • your Decentraland test scene code;
  • your completed GDD at /design/gdd.md;
  • a short README explaining the project and linking to the deployed test scene.

This is a real project repository, not application paperwork. If you progress into V0 and V1, the same project continues with you.

6. Apply for $1,000 V0 funding

When your project is ready, submit your repository through the V0 application form.

Apply for $1,000 V0 Funding

The form will ask for:

  • some short information about you or your team;
  • what you learned from the Featured Decentraland games you played in Step 1;
  • the link to your deployed test scene;
  • the link to your GitHub repository.

You will also need to give the Foundation GitHub accounts listed in the form access to your repository so we can fully review your application, including your code and GDD.

You do not need a separate pitch deck. Your repository, GDD and deployed test scene are the materials we review.

What happens next?

We review your application against the Creator Success criteria, focusing on:

a clear game loop + meaningful social play + a credible reason to return

We also check that your team can successfully build and deploy in Decentraland.

If selected, we agree a V0 Scope with you for a small vertical slice of the game. You then build and playtest that slice with Creator Success.

The $1,000 USD payment is made once the agreed V0 Scope is completed and can be playtested.

More than funding

Creator Success is designed to help you build professional game-development experience while making a real game.

For an individual developer or small studio, that means building something valuable beyond the game itself:

a body of shipped work, paid development experience, stronger production workflows, and relationships with other people making games.

And one of the best parts of making games is seeing somebody you do not know arrive, understand what you built, and enjoy playing it.

We want to help you get there.

Ready?

Play → Design → Build → Apply

Apply for $1,000 V0 Funding

Turn your game dev hobby into a paid project with Decentraland.