Introduction
Buying a digital game typically grants a limited, non-transferable license locked to one account. Steam, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network do not allow players to resell or share the digital titles they purchase. Libraries become titles players cannot monetize or gift, and developers have no stake in a secondary market.
DIODE’s vision is to restore true ownership. Every game purchased on DIODE is minted as a unique NFT license in the user’s wallet. The owner can later resell it through DIODE’s marketplace or another approved, royalty-paying marketplace: the economics of physical ownership, with digital distribution.
- For gamers. Players can recoup value from finished games, or buy second-hand at a discount, instead of accumulating digital dust.
- For developers. In the full release, 5% of each resale price is designed to go back to the developer automatically. On the primary market, developers keep 90% of each initial sale.
A design, not a live service
Wherever this paper describes the full platform, it describes a design. DIODE has no users, revenue, publisher partners, or funding to report, and any numbers that look forward are targets only. This is not an offer of securities.
Current Status: Non-Commercial Prototype
As of October 2026, this is what exists. Everything else in the paper is design and roadmap.
Web prototype
app.diodeapp.io is a browser storefront labelled “Status: Prototype”, with Store, Library, Marketplace, and Settings. It is non-commercial. The demo catalog comes from a public games API. There are no publisher listings, and DIODE has no affiliation with the publishers of the titles shown.
Wallet sign-in
Users connect a wallet (RainbowKit and wagmi: MetaMask, WalletConnect, Rainbow) and sign a message to log in.
Testnet license mint
A purchase mints a license NFT on the Base Sepolia testnet. The contract below is a testnet prototype contract: a standard ERC-721 that exposes only mintLicense(bytes32) (non-payable), token and game-key lookups, and a LicenseMinted event.
Base Sepolia testnet prototype contract: 0x3345CECC96598c95b8325e6322b3121415EEC7Dc
No real payments
Purchases draw on a simulated demo balance. No real money moves.
No on-chain royalties or marketplace yet
The testnet contract has no ERC-2981 royaltyInfo, no transfer hook, and no marketplace contract. Resale listings run through an off-chain API. No royalty is calculated or paid on-chain.
No launcher or DRM yet
There is no desktop client, no game downloads, and no license check at launch.
Business Model and Ownership Economics
True ownership via NFTs
A purchase puts an NFT in the buyer’s wallet. That token is the license: verifiable on-chain, held by the user, and transferable. Selling it transfers the right to play on DIODE. The previous owner loses access when the NFT leaves their wallet. Publishers keep the intellectual property. The NFT does not convey copyright or the right to copy the game. DIODE’s terms will treat NFTs as licenses under publisher conditions, with transfer rights built in. Resale is a licensing choice each publisher makes, not a legal right the platform relies on.
DIODE uses one fee model across this paper, the website, and the planned contracts. Both resale charges are deducted from the seller’s proceeds. Nothing is added on top of the price the buyer sees.
Initial sales (primary market)
Developers keep 90% of each initial sale and DIODE takes 10%. That is below Steam’s 30% base rate and the Epic Games Store’s 12%. itch.io lets developers choose their own split. On a $40 game, the developer keeps $36.00 and DIODE takes $4.00.
Secondary sales (resale market)
On each resale, 5% of the price goes to the developer as a royalty and 2% goes to DIODE as a platform fee. A $40 resale pays $2.00 to the developer, $0.80 to DIODE, and $37.20 to the seller. A $30 resale pays $1.50 to the developer and $0.60 to DIODE, and the seller receives $27.90. The original creator earns each time the game changes hands.
Primary sale and resale at the same price
| Primary sale | Resale at the same price | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Developer (90%) | DIODE (10%) | Developer (5%) / DIODE (2%) | Seller (93%) |
| $20 | $18.00 | $2.00 | $1.00 / $0.40 | $18.60 |
| $40 | $36.00 | $4.00 | $2.00 / $0.80 | $37.20 |
Player incentives
The 7% in resale fees comes out of the resale price. A player who buys a $60 title and later sells it for $30 receives $27.90, so the net cost is $32.10. Robot Cache’s announced split sent 25% to the seller, 70% to the publisher, and 5% to the platform. DIODE’s split is far more generous to the seller. Ultra’s marketplace has charged a low base fee (around 2% protocol fee plus 2% marketplace fee) and lets creators set their own royalty.
Competitive pricing and resale controls
Resale is opt-in per title, with controls so a secondary market does not immediately undercut new sales. At launch the royalty is a fixed 5% to the developer and the platform fee a fixed 2%, so every game shows the same terms. Per-title royalty settings may be considered later. A very high resale cut reduces the seller’s incentive.
| No-resale period | Developers can block resale for an initial window, for example 90 days from launch, in the contract or at the marketplace. |
| Floor price | Developers may set a minimum resale price, for example not less than 50% of the full price, for a period. The marketplace contract refuses listings below the floor. |
| Resale on or off | Resale is opt-in per title. Publishers choose it because it earns them a royalty. It is not forced on them. |
| Fixed launch fees | 5% developer royalty and 2% platform fee on every resale. Both come out of the seller’s proceeds. |
Comparison to existing models
Robot Cache
Announced in 2018 by Brian Fargo: resale with a 5% platform fee and a split of 70% to the publisher, 25% to the player, and 5% to the platform, plus its own coin, IRON. In April 2026 Robot Cache announced that its store would close and that purchased games would stop working. It reported $532 in game revenue for 2024. The lesson is a credible end-of-service plan, no new coin, and a catalog that can sustain a store.
Ultra
Ultra built a custom chain (UOS, a fork of EOSIO) and NFT licenses with creator-set royalties. In December 2023 it launched what it described as the first digital PC game that can be resold via an NFT license. DIODE’s difference is a standard EVM chain and a path that does not ask mainstream players to learn a new wallet or token.
Steam
Steam does not allow “applications built on blockchain technology that issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs.” That leaves room for a dedicated store, and it shapes how partner studios must handle their Steam builds.
Royalties: Design Goal, Today, and Enforcement
Design goal (full release)
A 5% developer royalty on every resale for the life of the license.
What the prototype does today
None of this is on-chain yet. The Base Sepolia testnet prototype contract only mints licenses. It has no payment, no ERC-2981 royaltyInfo, no transfer hook, and no marketplace contract. Purchases use a demo balance, and resale listings run off-chain. No royalty is calculated or paid.
How it will be enforced
ERC-2981 alone is not enough: it only reports a royalty amount, and marketplaces can ignore it. The full release enforces royalties in the contract.
- Resale happens only through DIODE’s marketplace contract or through approved operators that pay the royalty. The license contract blocks any transfer that is not routed through an approved operator (an ERC-721C-style operator allowlist).
- Price, developer royalty, and DIODE fee settle in the same transaction as the transfer. On a 100 USDC resale, the contract sends 5 USDC to the developer, 2 USDC to DIODE, and 93 USDC to the seller.
- ERC-2981 will be implemented so wallets and marketplaces can display the 5% royalty. DIODE will not rely on it for enforcement.
- The launcher checks ownership before a game starts.
- Whether to allow capped free gifting between wallets is still to be decided.
The trade-off
Restricting transfers to approved operators makes DIODE licenses less freely tradable than an ordinary NFT. They cannot be sold on a marketplace that does not pay royalties, and DIODE controls the allowlist. That is the choice the paper makes for a product whose promise to developers is a resale royalty, and it is stated openly.
Platform Architecture and Technology Stack
This section is the planned full platform. The web prototype already uses wallet sign-in, and license minting already runs on the Base Sepolia testnet.
- A desktop client, Windows first, with Mac and Linux later. The wallet address is the account.
- At launch: browser wallets such as MetaMask, which work with Base, and WalletConnect for mobile wallets such as Trust Wallet or Rainbow.
- Later, for players without a wallet: embedded wallets from an email or social login (services such as Immutable Passport or Magic.Link) and a fiat on-ramp so players can pay by card.
- Login is a signature of a random nonce. DIODE does not store private keys. Optional recovery may come later. The wallet remains the source of truth.
- DIODE deploys on Base, an Ethereum Layer-2. The prototype already runs on the Base Sepolia testnet. Contracts are Solidity, with OpenZeppelin, MetaMask, and wagmi.
- Launch is a single chain. Ethereum L1 fees rule it out for purchases. Arbitrum, Optimism, and Immutable were considered, as were WAX, Flow, Solana, and a custom chain.
- Games are priced in US dollars and settle in USDC, so 1 USDC = $1, through a licensed payment provider.
- DIODE has no token and does not need one. A future loyalty program, if any, would most likely use off-chain points and would only follow legal review.
- Each game gets an ERC-721 license contract. A sale mints a new token to the buyer. Only an authorized sale can mint. Transfers are limited to approved, royalty-paying operators.
- EIP-2981 declares the 5% developer royalty and payout address for display. Enforcement is the transfer restriction, not the royalty standard.
- Marketplace flow: approve(), createListing(tokenId, price), then buy(listingId). Payment and the NFT move atomically, or neither does.
- Primary sales mint on demand and split 90% to the developer and 10% to DIODE in the same transaction. On a $50 sale, $45 goes to the developer and $5 to DIODE.
- Contracts will be audited and based on OpenZeppelin. License contracts should be immutable. The marketplace may be upgradeable through a proxy and a multi-signature wallet. A retired marketplace’s successor is added to the operator allowlist so licenses stay resellable.
- An indexer caches ownership for the client. The chain remains the source of truth. Game files stay off-chain, with hashes for integrity.
- Game files are delivered from DIODE’s servers, a cloud CDN, or possibly peer-to-peer or IPFS and Filecoin. The blockchain is not used to ship the binaries.
- Download and launch check that the wallet still owns the NFT (ownerOf(tokenId) equals the user). Download URLs are tied to the session.
- Offline play uses a cached proof for a grace period, for example 7 days, which publishers may set. A signed license ticket carries the wallet, token id, and expiry.
- An optional startup SDK can check the license. Online games can query DIODE’s API. No DRM is unbreakable. The reason to stay legitimate is resale value, updates, and the store.
- Patches follow the NFT. If DIODE shuts down, the intent is to give license holders DRM-free builds, subject to publisher agreements.
- Fraud is handled by disabling downloads for the wallet and working with the payment provider, not by routinely revoking NFTs.
User Flow: Buying, Selling, and Playing
These steps describe the full release. In today’s prototype, only wallet login and a testnet mint paid from a demo balance are real.
Go-to-Market for Indie Developers
The catalog is the business. The first goal is to sign at least three indie studios as alpha launch partners. The early fit is premium, single-player games from studios that already sell beyond Steam, for example DRM-free or on itch.io, and that will try resellable licenses.
Targeted founder outreach
Founder Levani Zurbiani will personally email a short, hand-picked list of studios. Each email is written individually, comes from a real identified sender with a truthful subject line, and says plainly that DIODE is a testnet prototype with no real payments yet. It includes a valid postal address and a working unsubscribe link. Opt-outs are honored promptly. Mail goes only to business addresses the studio has published. There are no purchased or bulk lists. This follows the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act. Partners get a free alpha launch slot, launch promotion, and integration support. Their Steam builds are unaffected.
Inbound channels
- Game jams with prize pools
- Partnerships with game engines and asset stores
- Base ecosystem grants and community programs
- Developer content, forums, and events such as GDC, Gamescom, and blockchain conferences
- An application page where studios can request launch support
Later stages
Larger publishers are a later pitch: one older title, or resale on a back catalog, with data sharing so the effect can be measured. Studios already making blockchain games are a natural audience. Before any commercial launch, the demo titles in today’s prototype will be replaced by licensed partner games.
Regulatory and Market Considerations
Digital ownership in law
Under current EU law, platforms may block resale of purely digital games. DIODE does not rely on a legal right of resale. Resale on DIODE is a licensing choice the publisher makes, because it earns a royalty.
UsedSoft (CJEU, C-128/11, 2012)
Exhaustion of the distribution right applies to downloaded software, so a lawfully acquired software license can be resold.
Tom Kabinet (CJEU, C-263/18, 2019)
Selling e-books by download is a communication to the public, so exhaustion does not apply.
Germany
The Landgericht Berlin (15 O 56/13, 21 January 2014) upheld Steam’s ban on account transfers, and the Kammergericht affirmed it in 2015.
France
A Paris court ruled in 2019 that Steam should allow resale of digital games. The ruling was overturned on appeal in 2022. On 23 October 2024 the Cour de cassation (1re civ., no. 23-13.738) rejected UFC-Que Choisir’s appeal against Valve. Video games are complex works covered by Directive 2001/29, so exhaustion does not apply and the resale ban stands.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 18 January 2023 calling for stronger consumer protection in online gaming. A European Citizens’ Initiative, “Stop Destroying Videogames” (also known as “Stop Killing Games”), launched in mid-2024, aims to require that games remain playable after publishers end support. It gathered over 1.4 million signatures by late 2025.
Market, competition, and funding
Newzoo estimates global PC games revenue at $43.6 billion for 2025, up 12%. DIODE does not target that whole market. The reachable segment is indie and DRM-free PC games whose developers are willing to sell resellable licenses, and that segment will be sized from sourced data before it is used in any projection. The planned launch focus is North America and Europe, then Asia-Pacific. If a country restricts license transfers, resale there might be geo-restricted.
Against Steam and Epic, the offer to developers is: keep 90% of every sale, and earn on resales instead of 0% from used games today. The 90% primary share beats Steam’s 30% base rate and Epic’s 12%. Against Ultra and other Web3 stores, DIODE uses standard EVM wallets and a dollar stablecoin rather than a custom wallet or token.
DIODE has not raised funding. The raise amount and use of funds are still to be set by the founders. The expected path is equity from angels and venture investors, grants (including from L2 ecosystems such as Base), and possibly a community equity round subject to securities law. DIODE will not sell a token. Incorporation options include a Delaware corporation, Switzerland, or Singapore. Fiat on-ramps are planned through a licensed payment provider, with a legal opinion on securities and money transmission. VAT is handled by the business. Terms will say users obtain a license represented by an NFT. NFTs are not positioned as securities or investments. Age ratings and regional content rules follow existing frameworks.
Compliance and Platform
Steam
Steam does not allow applications built on blockchain technology that issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs. Partner studios keep the wallet, the license NFT, and resale out of their Steam builds. The DIODE build is a separate distribution. Listing on DIODE does not change what a studio ships on Steam.
Email outreach
Studio outreach follows the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act: accurate sender and header information, a truthful subject line, a clear statement of what the message is, a valid postal address, a working unsubscribe link, and opt-outs honored within 10 business days. Only published business addresses are used. There are no bulk lists.
Honest claims
DIODE makes no claims about users, traction, partners, or funding, because it has none to report yet. Wherever this paper mentions numbers of studios, titles, or users, they are targets, not results.
Risks
Development Roadmap
The roadmap starts in October 2026. Numbers of titles or users are targets, not results.
Longer term, the aim is a digital ownership economy in gaming: more decentralized file distribution, interoperability with other NFT ecosystems, and a mod marketplace where mod creators and original developers split revenue. Curation and discovery matter as much as ownership. The priority is a working product early, even with a small catalog, and then growing the catalog and the user base together.
Team
Levani Zurbiani, Founder
New York City. Former Head of Project Management who built financial and banking platforms.
Co-founder
A senior engineer at a major crypto wallet company. Identity available on request.
FAQ
Read the full whitepaper
This page is the DIODE whitepaper: prototype status, fees, architecture, go-to-market, regulation, and the roadmap.