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Garry's Mod Goes Commercial
Gothic_Walrus writes "A recent entry in The Steam Review brings the news that Garry's Mod, the popular mod for Half-Life 2 that allows players freedom to play with the game's physics engine in what is effectively a sandbox mode, is going to be sold through Steam at a $10 price point. It's worth noting, however, that the current version of the mod will remain as a demo."
like selling CS for HL1 in stores when it was free online.
The CS box in stores came with a license for HL1 as well.
Just like CS for HL1, you don't have to buy Gary's mod either. There is still a free version available, and if the updates aren't worth it to you, don't buy it. The retail CS came with two things, a CD containing the executable (so you wouldn't have to d/l it) and a HL license. The price of the HL license made the purchase a reasonable one - though it might've been a more limited license, I don't remember. (Disclaimer, I didn't buy retail CS).
The thing with the popular HL mods from CS, Day of Defeat, Natrual Selection, They Hunger, etc... is that they were all really high quality stuff, on par with anything the professionals (including Valve) sold. If paying these people a reasonable fee keeps them motivated to keep producing such outstanding content, then great. And if people find those costs too high to bear, then they'll simply move on to other things.
I look at paying for Gary's mod a reward to Gary for providing an excellent tool, and hopefully some incentive for him (and his team) to keep going. Although I'd argue that Gary's team could've done better than a 50/50 split with Valve.