FAQ

##General Questions
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Why is my game not showing up in the New Games list?
The New Games list is cached and can take up to 30 minutes to show a new game that was just uploaded and published. Have patience, it’ll show up before too long. :)

How do I sitelock my game to Kongregate?
Games on Kongregate are often virally spread to other game portals. If you're attempting to get a wide distribution, this is great. However, if you prefer to control the distribution of your game, you can lock it to only work on Kongregate (and whatever other sites you want). You can find sitelock tutorials online. You should strip off the subdomain and just lock to kongregate.com to be safest.

Can I get featured or have badges/achievements added to my game?
Getting promoted on the front page is based almost entirely on your rating. At time of writing, we usually look for at least a 3.60 for a spot in the Hot New Games, and at least a 3.75 (usually at least a 4.00) for badges. To get badges you must also have a working Statistics API. Even then, not all games with high scores can get featured, and it depends on the current competition and other game releases.

How do I delete my game?
You can email us at [email protected] to request deletion of your game.

How do I know if the Statistics API is working in my game?
The easiest way is to look for a High Scores tab next to your game instead of a More Games tab. Alternatively, if you're getting the 10% API bonus in your revenue report (more on that in a second), then the API is fine.

However, if those are negative, there is another way. Add ?debug_level=4 to the end of your game's URL (this works in preview mode too) and load up the game with either Firebug's or Chrome's Console open (in Chrome, right-click and "Inspect Element", then click on the Console tab, then reload the page). This will let you see connection info and statistics submitting. If you see [Service->Game]: hello: {"success":true}, then you're connected. Then, when your game attempts to submit a stat, you should see a [Game->Service]: stat.submit line. If it succeeds, a [Service->Game]: stat.submit response including {"success":true} will come back eventually.
Alternatively, if you use the server stats API, the success response will look more like
[Konduit] Kongregate Packet[kong_web2] stat.submit: {"success":true,"stats":{"7658":71,"7766":7}}

If you see all that, then you're good to go!

📘
Note: statistic names are case-sensitive - watch out for that!

Also, if you need to test with more users than just your developer account but aren't letting in beta users, you can let other accounts have access to your game by temporarily making them collaborators from your games /edit page. Note that they will need to confirm being collaborators before they have access.

Why was my game removed?
Games that are deemed obscene, hateful, pornographic, stolen (you must be the creator or one of the creators to upload a game) or not even games will be deleted from the site, and it's very likely that the uploader will be banned permanently.

Additionally, if games receive an overall rating of 2.0 or less after a certain number of ratings, they will be "hidden" on the site. When a game is hidden, it will not appear in any of the lists (such as latest games or highest rated games). Hidden games are still on the site, however, and they can be reached manually by going directly to the URL, running a search for them, or following a link through someone's profile (as either a favorite or as an uploaded game in the developer's profile). Games also need a minimum rating of 3.5 to show up at all in the "highest rated" games list or on the front page under a specific category.

How long does it take to get approved for a kreds game, and what is the process?
We usually respond to initial emails within a few business days. After that, we’ll evaluate your game for potential on our site and talk with you about any concerns or suggestions that we have. If it passes the approval process, a quick contract is digitally signed (no printing/faxing!) and then the integration process starts. Usually this only takes a few days of programming, and then we will do some testing and let you know if we have any changes that are needed. The whole process can be completed within a week or two in many cases. To ensure a quicker approval process, make sure to complete the Submission Checklist before submitting your game.

##Uploading Questions
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How can I upload my game onto Kongregate?
To upload your game onto Kongregate, check out our instructions for upload.

If you're uploading a WebGL build of a Unity 5 game, all you need to upload is a zip file containing your Release folder as well as the index.html file.

What format of games can I upload?
We support Flash (swf) files, HTML, and Unity game files. If you are hosting the game files yourself you can set up an iframe with us to point at your servers.

Additionally, games that we host have a maximum file size of 50MB and all games have a maximum width of 800 pixels. There's not a hard height limit but please keep it reasonable to make sure your game is still playable. If your game needs to exceed these, please contact us to request an exception.

What are the guidelines for uploaded content?
First, it must be a game. Kongregate does not allow Flash movies, regardless of how great they might be. There has to be some level of interaction with the player.

Although we’re still in the process of establishing specific guidelines for acceptable content, obscene, pornographic, and hateful material are not allowed and never will be.

Most importantly, uploaded games (including all components of games, such as audio) must be your original work or work you have permission to upload from the owner. Kongregate has absolutely no tolerance for uploading stolen content. Violators of this policy will automatically receive a one-week ban without warning on the first offense, and a permanent ban on the second.

Why is it telling me my game has an invalid file type?
Only .swf .html, and .unity3d game files can be uploaded to Kongregate. If you have an .exe file from a program like Game Maker, unfortunately it will not work on our system.

Once I’ve uploaded a game, how can I edit the information associated with that game?
Inside your profile page, you’ll find a list of the games you’ve uploaded beneath your profile information. Clicking the “manage my games” link will bring you to a separate page in which you can edit information for games you’ve uploaded. While you won’t be able to change the title of your game (that title is, after all, part of the game’s URL) or delete your game entirely, you can update anything else, including the description, instructions, tags, etc. You can also upload a new version of the game, or a new icon.

Because Kongregate links to each game, we don’t allow removing games through user profiles (broken links make us sad). If you’d like us to remove your game manually, please email us at [email protected].

I just uploaded my game and the rating is "under judgment". What does that mean?
When a new game is uploaded its rating is not displayed until it has a minimum number of ratings. This ensures that the early raters make an independent decision.

##Revenue Questions
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Why is my revenue payment smaller than I was told?
If you notice that your delivered payment is less than what is posted on your revenue page, this is almost always due to international tax law and treaties. While the United States has tax treaties with many countries to prevent advanced withholding, for some countries we have to hold 10% or even up to 30% of revenue payments in order to be paid to the United States government. This is a legal issue and we cannot change it. This page has more information on international taxes.

Why is my game not getting the 10% ad revenue bonus?
The system looks for a small number (50) of successful statistic submissions to confirm that the API is consistently working well. To ensure that you reach this easily, don't require users to press a "submit score" button - just do it automatically for them. They won't mind, I promise. If your game is hard and only submits a stat if you beat it, then you're also going to have a hard time hitting that limit.

Also, please be patient - we only update revenue once a weekday, so don't freak out unless it's been at least a day. Your revenue will show as $0.00 and 0% revenue share until we update it, even if the report shows gameplays.