How a Developer Can Receive Money from Steam While in Russia — Slava Gris on the Main Methods and Pitfalls
Slava Gris, an independent developer and author of games like Fearmonium and Catmaze, gave a presentation during the first session of the "Game Industry" conference. Drawing from personal experience, he elaborated on how to work with Steam from Russia in today's environment.
Slava Gris at the "Game Industry" conference
Can You Create a Developer Account on Steam While in Russia?
There are still many misconceptions in the community about how Russian developers can interact with Valve. One of these is the belief that it's impossible to register accounts and withdraw money. Gris points out that this is far from the truth.
Any user can become a platform partner by registering on the Steamworks website. It's important to remember the following nuances:
- it's better to create a separate account not linked to your personal profile;
- enter your foreign passport data (an internal Russian passport will also work but may slow down some processes);
- do not use pseudonyms—your first and last name in the developer account must match the documents you'll work with Valve on.
The only obstacle is paying for Steam Direct from Russia. This is a $100 fee that grants the right to publish your products on Steam and is paid per game. Valve reimburses the amount once the gross revenue of the game (before commission and taxes) reaches 1000 dollars.
The main challenge is that Steam Direct cannot be paid from your Steam Wallet. You need a Visa or Mastercard, which haven't worked in Russia since March 2022.
How to Pay for Steam Direct from Russia?
According to Gris, there are three workarounds:
- If you were already a Steam partner before 2022, you can use the "Application transfer" function. For this, you'll need an overseas developer with a Steamworks account who can pay Steam Direct from their card and transfer the rights to a user from Russia. Gris notes that this method is legal and complies with platform rules.
- Invite a foreign user to your company within Steam and give them permission to perform certain financial operations, including paying for Steam Direct. Valve allows fine-tuning of data access levels and visibility for participants, so there's no need to worry that the invited person will be able to manage your developer account.
Example of a message a user will receive to join an organization
- If you're a regular user, you need to change the account region and make the payment with an overseas card (remember—Steam Direct cannot be paid from the wallet, a card is needed). VPN can help here, as can a person from another country with a Visa/Mastercard or remote access apps like AnyDesk. Changing the region does not violate platform rules. The only caveat: Steam support told Gris they are "uncertain" if changing the country might cause any unforeseen issues in the future.
Important: as a tax resident of Russia, during registration, you need to provide your personal details and link a personal phone number for subsequent work with Valve.
In the final stage of registration, you'll need to fill out a W-8BEN form to confirm that you're not a U.S. tax resident. After this, a developer will receive a letter from the American tax office. For those with a foreign passport, the process takes a few days; with only a domestic passport, it can take several weeks.
Gris advises paying close attention to this to avoid additional taxes from the U.S. If the form is filled out correctly, you'll receive information from Steam indicating a 0% tax withholding rate. If there's another number (likely 30%), it means an error was made, and the form needs to be sent again.
How to Receive Payouts from Steam?
Valve processes all transactions through the SWIFT system. According to Gris, in 2024, there are several Russian banks that allow work with Steam. Among them are:
- Chelyabinvestbank—accepts SWIFT transfers from Valve when opening a dollar account for sole proprietors (a personal visit to the branch is required);
- Moskommerzbank—also requires a personal visit, but if money is held in the account's currency, $100 is deducted daily (recently, there have been other difficulties, making this bank not the most convenient option for developers);
- T-Bank—receives payments through intermediaries with a high commission.
Another popular way is to open an account in a neighboring country. Receiving transfers to a foreign bank card while paying taxes in Russia is legal. However, you must notify the tax office within 30 days from the date of opening a foreign account. Otherwise, a fine of 4,000 rubles per account may be applied.
Withdrawing money from foreign accounts to Russian ones can be done without major issues. Ruble SWIFT transfers are still operational but come with fees. Developers with smaller sales volumes might consider third-party money transfer services.
It's also worth noting that you can work with Steam before opening an account. In this case, the money from game sales will simply accumulate in your account. Don't worry if the countries in the Steam account region (e.g., Turkey), tax information (Russia), and bank account (Kazakhstan) don't match—this does not matter and does not violate rules. The key is that the account for withdrawals should be registered under the name used when creating the Steam partner account.
Slava Gris frequently discusses this and many other topics related to indie development on his YouTube channel RedBlack Spade.
