Game Developers: You are free to create and share videogames based on SCP, but you must comply with all aspects of the license as it relates to software. That means releasing the work under CC-by-SA-3.0, including the release statement prominently on any store page the game is distributed on (as well as developer websites and the like), releasing the game without DRM if the game costs money (steam and the like have developer options for this), not imposing additional legal restrictions through EULAs or equivalent user forms, and not attempting to impede any alternate distribution sources so long as those sources in turn follow the terms of the license.

Sample release statement: "Content relating to the SCP Foundation, including the SCP Foundation logo, is licensed under Creative Commons Sharealike 3.0 and all concepts originate from https://scpwiki.com/ and its authors. [Insert Game Name here], being derived from this content, is hereby also released under Creative Commons Sharealike 3.0."

Note: You can also choose to license your game under GPLv3, which is compatible with our license. It is a more specialized software license that includes provisions for patent rights, but requires you to release the full source code of your game publicly- in a manner that is immediately playable and modifiable. If you do so, please still credit the SCP Foundation and its authors via attribution. See here for more information on why the Creative Commons organization recommends GPLv3 for software.

Sample GPL release statement:
"(one line to give the program's name and a brief idea of what it does.)
Copyright (C) (year) (name of author)
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>."

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Licensing for SCP Games

When we're talking about creating a game based on the world or content of SCPs, we often get a lot of questions about how you need to license your game. Do you need to release it under a specific license. does it have to be free, does my game need to also be CC-BY-SA? Can I make an SCP game in Unity/Unreal?

Unfortunately, the Creative Commons license was not designed for software, and is not directly compatible with games; instead, the focus is on attribution, and ensuring compliance for derivative words or art.

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TL;DR: Any asset you create for the game needs to be licensed under CC-BY-SA, or a compatible license. Any source code, engine code, executable or otherwise are not considered relevant in terms of the CC-BY-SA license, and may be licensed under whatever you would like.

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To simplify how we talk about this, its easier to conceive of a game as three distinct parts: the engine and executable, the source code, and the assets.

Definitions

In the context of this guide, we are using each term in a specific way — to avoid confusion, we have defined these terms here:

Engine and Executable

The engine and the executable are two distinct aspects that we bundle together, because licensing considers them effectively the same.

Engine

The engine is defined as the base game development software engine that is used in the creation of your game. The engine refers to all of the proprietary code created by the company that created the engine, and is not considered relevant for the Creative Commons license.

Examples of engines include, but are not limited to:

• Unreal Engine 4
• Unity
• Godot
• RPG Maker
• Twine
• Scratch

Executable

The executable refers to the .exe file created when exporting your game from the game engine. The executable, similarly to the engine, is based on the proprietary code of the packager/engine creator, and is not considered relevant for the Creative Commons license.

Source Code

The source code of a game refers to all code, data assets, data-driven tables, mechanics-focused comma separated value files, or other forms of scripting gameplay (such as Blueprints, or other node based-editors). This only applies to code that was created by the developers, not including the engine or executable code, and is not considered relevant for the Creative Commons license.

Assets

The assets within a game refer to all non-code based files that are included with the game. The most relevant assets in terms of licensing are art files and narrative files, that are not natively packaged with the engine or executable — these assets are considered relevant when talking about the SCP Wiki's Creative Commons license.

Assets include, but are not limited to:

• Textures (.jpeg, .tga, .png, etc.)
• Models (.obj, .fbx, etc.)
• Videos (.mp4, .mkv, .avi, etc.)
• Music and Sound Effects (.ogg, .mp3, .wav, etc.)
• Narrative & Scripts (.txt, .csv (Narratives), .rtf, etc.)

Basically, if it is not code, but you created it for your game, consider it an asset — these items are the most relevant when talking about licensing SCP for your game.

Guide & Common Questions

Engine and Executable

To start with a common question:

Is there a restriction to what Game Engines I can use if I want to make a game about SCP?

Short answer, no.

There is no limit to what game engines you use, as any code that is used in the engine is licensed by yourself, as the developer of the game. Notably, the majority of the major paid game engines (Unity, Unreal, GameMaker) carve out an exception stating that you may publish your software under a different license than the engine, and that it does not change the license of the engine code itself. From this, we approach this entire issue in this manner; we separate the parts, and have the handled under different licenses.

Source Code

The next part of a game, and the next question is about the game itself:

If I release a game about SCPs, does it have to be under CC or a similar license?

No, you do not need to release your software (or source code) under a similar license, however, we would ask that you consider releasing it under one such as GPL, to maintain the ethos of the site.

You can release the source code under any license, unless otherwise specified by the game engine you use; the source code would not be considered derivative of the SCP wiki, or works therein, as the wiki is not a software project; it is a static asset, not interactable. That means you do not have to choose a 'compatible or similar license'.

However, consider releasing your game under something like GNU GPL, MIT License or GPLv3 — these software licenses have a similar approach to freedom of information that informs the reasoning and ethos behind our use of the Creative Commons license.

Assets

This is the section that actually matters in terms of the Creative Commons license, and has the most 'complexity' to it. As defined in detail earlier, assets are defined as non-source code files created for the game, including but not limited to textures, models, narrative scripts, music and more.

How do I attribute the works? Do I have to?

When you are making a game that is directly using, or adapting an SCP work into a derivative adaptation, you must follow standard attribution for Creative Commons works. That means that you must include the name, author, and a link to the source for any works or derived from the SCP wiki that are used in your game — see the rest of the licensing guide for more details on that.

What about derivatives? Like a 3D model based on an art piece on the wiki?

If you create a derivative work, that is, any asset that is derivative of a work on the wiki, that asset must be released under a similar or compatible license. This means that, if I created a model of SCP-173 in my game, that model and texture would need to be released under a compatible license. This also means that said assets must be unencrypted, and available in the source of the game, once distributed/packaged in the executable — this is to ensure compliance with our works, as based on the CC-BY-SA license present throughout the site.

The also includes derivative stories; if your story is an adaptation of a specific work on the wiki, the narrative of your game must be released under CC-BY-SA, or a compatible license.

However, if your game is simply based on the concept of SCPs, but you have created your own unique narrative and anomalies, you would need to follow attribution towards the SCP Wiki, but would not be required to release those legally distinct assets under a similar license, comparable to standard licensing standards.

The Big Question

If you've made it this far into the guide, you're probably still wondering the big question:

Can I make money off of my SCP game?

The answer is yes, as long as you follow the ShareAlike license for assets, and have proper attribution.

I do want to take a second and point something out — earlier I discussed releasing your game under the GNU GPL or similar license, and wanted to circle back on that topic. If you are releasing a game under a license such as that, you are not prohibited from distributing that game for money. What it means is that as an end user who owns the game, I would be able to redistribute it, as the license is concerned with freedom of information. You can still charge for access, you just cannot require that you are the only avenue. So if you release your game under GNU GPL, or a similar license, you can both maintain the spirit behind the SCP wiki's use of Creative Commons, while still being able to earn money for your labour!

Summary

In summary, when using the SCP wiki as the basis for a video game, you need to ensure that your assets are compliant with the CC-BY-SA license. This, however, does not extend to the software itself, not does it prevent you from using major game engines or profiting off of your game.