Linden Lab Official:Second Life Skill Gaming Program Terms and Conditions

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Linden Research, Inc. (“Linden Lab”) operates a virtual world platform known as Second Life (“Second Life”), which includes a component of server space rental represented Inworld (as defined below) as land. Linden Lab recognizes that, to the extent permitted by applicable law and Linden Lab’s Terms of Service (the “Terms of Service”), such land may be used for Skill Gaming (as defined below) activities.


Linden Lab hereby authorizes certain creators and operators (each as approved through Linden Lab’s Skill Gaming application process, a Skill Gaming “Creator” or “Operator,” whichever is applicable as defined below) to create, operate or host approved Skill Games (as defined below) in a Skill Gaming Region (as defined below) subject to approval and issuance of a License (as defined below) by Linden Lab. The License will allow approved applicants to participate in the operation of Skill Games within Second Life, in accordance with the Skill Gaming Program Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”) set forth below.


  1. Defined Terms.
    • “Associated Account” shall mean an account that has been approved by Linden Lab to receive payment in Linden Dollars from an Operator.
    • “Creator” shall mean a Second Life resident recognized by Linden Lab through the Skill Gaming application process as the creator of an approved Skill Game, in accordance with Linden Lab’s requirements.
    • “Creator Account” shall mean the designated unique Second Life account to be used by a Creator for the creation of Skill Games such Creator intends to submit to Linden Lab through the Skill Gaming application process. Each Skill Game submitted to Linden Lab by a Creator must be created with this designated unique Second Life account.
    • “Inworld” shall mean within the Second Life three-dimensional virtual world environment.
    • “License” shall mean permission from Linden Lab to participate in a Skill Gaming Region as a Creator or Operator. Permission must be obtained through the Skill Gaming application process.
    • “Operator” shall mean a Second Life resident recognized by Linden Lab through the Skill Gaming application process to place and operate approved Skill Games in a Skill Gaming Region, in accordance with Linden Lab’s requirements.
    • “Operator Account” shall mean the designated unique Second Life account for all Linden Dollar transactions associated with an Operator’s approved Skill Games.
    • “Region Owner” shall mean a Second Life resident who licenses Inworld land from Linden Lab.
    • “Skill Game” or “Skill Gaming” shall mean a game, implemented through an Inworld object: 1) whose outcome is determined by skill and is not contingent, in whole or in material part, upon chance; 2) requires or permits the payment of Linden Dollars to play; 3) provides a payout in Linden Dollars; and 4) is legally authorized by applicable United States and international law. Games in which Second Life residents do not pay to play are not subject to the requirements of these Terms. “Skill Games” are not intended to include and shall not include “gambling” as defined by applicable United States and international law.
    • “Skill Gaming Region” shall mean a Second Life Full Region (65,536 sqm) recognized by Linden Lab for the placement, operation and use of approved Skill Games.
  2. Skill Gaming Application Requirements.
    1. Second Life residents who wish to be recognized by Linden Lab as a Creator or Operator shall complete and provide to Linden Lab an application containing relevant identifying information, including the disclosure of its historical involvement in Skill Gaming activities in Second Life and any other documentation or information as may be requested by Linden Lab.
    2. A person may apply for consideration as both a Creator and Operator and may be approved for either, neither or both.
    3. Skill Games require approval pursuant to these Terms before they can be offered and may be offered only in a Skill Gaming Region.
    4. Creator or Operator’s appointment and continued authorization by Linden Lab as a Creator or Operator is conditioned upon providing prompt, complete and accurate answers to its application and any other related inquiries as may be requested by Linden Lab from time to time.
    5. Applicants who have been recognized as a Creator or Operator shall be issued a License by Linden Lab for approved Skill Games or operation of a Skill Gaming Region, respectively.
    6. Each License must be renewed on a quarterly basis and shall be subject to a non-refundable quarterly fee (to be assessed and payable in advance of each calendar quarter). Operators and Creators have 30 (thirty) days from the day they were billed, to pay the quarterly fee in full or their Operator/Creator account could be subject to removal from the Skill Gaming Program.
  3. Creator Requirements.
    1. Creator Application Requirements. Notwithstanding the requirements set forth in Section 2 herein, Second Life residents who wish to be recognized as a Creator shall provide Linden Lab with:
      1. A complete list of all Skill Games;
      2. A reasoned legal opinion from a credible attorney in good standing (the “Reasoned Legal Opinion”) that describes each Skill Game (including detailed operational descriptions) and provides a detailed analysis of its compliance with Linden Lab’s Skill Game Guidelines and applicable United States and international law; and
      3. A sworn affidavit or declaration (the “Sworn Affidavit”) from the applicant that: 1) certifies the facts set forth in the application, legal opinion, and any other documentation submitted to Linden Lab (including attesting that the application includes true and correct descriptions of the Skill Games); 2) attests compliance with Linden Lab’s requirements and applicable United States and international law; 3) sets forth the applicant’s agreement to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in San Francisco, California, for the resolution of any dispute with Linden Lab arising out of its Skill Gaming activity, including but not limited to the veracity of any statements set out in all documentation submitted to Linden Lab.
      4. Creators are able to live in Prohibited States as long as they abide by the following criteria:
        • Create free-to-play Skill Games that can be changed to pay-for-play Skill Games for Operators to purchase
        • Only test their Skill Games in free-to-play mode
        • Fixes any Skill Games off of a Skill Gaming region in a private location that does not allow any Residents to access
    2. Updates to Skill Games. In the event that a Creator would like to update the description for an existing approved Skill Game or submit a new Skill Game to Linden Lab for consideration and approval, Creator shall submit a supplemental application to Linden Lab for review and consideration. The requirements applicable to an initial application shall apply to a supplemental application.
    3. Creator Account. Each Creator shall designate a Creator Account. The Creator Account shall be the sole Second Life account used by Creator to create Skill Games to be submitted to Linden Lab for approval through the Skill Gaming application process. With the exception of transactions with Operator Accounts as set forth herein, no other commercial activity or gifting may be associated with a Creator Account. For avoidance of doubt, the transactions of a Creator Account shall be limited to transactions with Operator Accounts (subject to compliance with Section 4(c)(i)(1) herein) and Linden Dollar purchases or sales on the LindeX.
    4. Creator License Fee. Each Creator shall pay a non-refundable recurring license fee on a quarterly basis (the “Creator License Fee”). Creators have 30 (thirty) days from the day they were billed, to pay the quarterly fee in full or their Creator account could be subject to removal from the Skill Gaming Program.
    5. Creator Requirements. Each Creator shall:
      1. Ensure that “[slgaming]” will be included as a prefix in the root object name field of each Skill Game;
      2. Ensure that “[slgaming-unapproved]” will be included as a prefix in the root object name field of all objects that facilitate transactions through its Creator Account, excluding active and approved Skill Games (which are subject to Section 3(e)(i) herein). (As an example, if the Creator wishes to sell Add-ons or is currently testing a new or updated Skill Game);
      3. Ensure that the “llTransferLindenDollars” Linden Scripting Language function will be used for all outgoing Linden Dollar transactions in all objects that facilitate transactions through the Creator Account, including Skill Games;
      4. Ensure that each Skill Game remains compliant to the Terms and Conditions regarding any updates to the Skill Game that the Operator is unable to make, including but not limited to transactions tags;
      5. Verify that each purchaser of its approved Skill Games has been approved by Linden Lab as an Operator through the Skill Gaming application process. Linden Lab will maintain a list of Operators;
      6. Ensure that the maximum pay-in amount for each Skill Game shall not exceed One Hundred Thousand Linden Dollars (L$100,000); and
      7. Fix their Skill Game(s) within 15 days of being notified by Linden Lab regarding their Skill Game(s) incapability of performing without an issue. The Creator must notify Operators and Linden Lab via Notecard and/or Support Ticket if repairs will take longer than 15 days. The Creator must keep Operators and Linden Lab informed of the process while addressing the issue regarding their Skill Game(s). If the Skill Games(s) is not fixed within 30 days, the Creator’s account could be subject to removal from the Skill Gaming Program. If Skill Game is revised, please see Section IX (9) WHAT TO DO IF AN APPROVED SKILL GAME IS REVISED in the Linden Lab Official: Second Life Skill Game Guidelines
  4. Operator Requirements.
    1. Operator Application Requirements. Notwithstanding the requirements set forth in Section 2 herein, Second Life residents who wish to be approved as an Operator of a Skill Gaming Region shall provide Linden Lab with:
      1. A complete list of all Skill Games that will be operated in its Skill Gaming Regions, which shall include the relevant creator of each Skill Game;
      2. A complete list of all Skill Gaming Regions in which Operator wishes to operate approved Skill Games;
      3. An attestation that: (1) the Operator will comply with all game controls, parameters, and settings implemented by the creators of each Skill Game; (2) the application contains a true and correct list of all Skill Games that the Operator will operate (and will be updated as necessary to ensure it remains complete); (3) the application includes a true and correct list of all Skill Gaming Regions in which the Operator intends to operate Skill Games; and (4) the Operator will comply with all Linden Lab requirements, which shall include but is not limited to, the Skill Gaming Policy, Skill Game Guidelines, and applicable United States and international law.
    2. Updates to Skill Gaming Regions and Skill Games Within Operator’s Control. In the event that an Operator would like to add a Skill Gaming Region in which an Operator may operate Skill Games or a new approved Skill Game to its Skill Gaming Regions, Operator shall submit a supplemental application to Linden Lab for review and consideration. The requirements applicable to an initial application shall apply to a supplemental application.
    3. Operator Account. Each Operator shall designate one (1) Operator Account for all Skill Gaming Regions in which Operator wishes to operate approved Skill Games. For avoidance of doubt, in the event that an Operator operates approved Skill Games in multiple Skill Gaming Regions, the same Operator Account must be designated for each such Skill Gaming Region. The Operator Account shall be the sole recipient and distributor of all Linden Dollar transactions, including any payments to and from Second Life residents associated with an Operator’s approved Skill Games in all Skill Gaming Regions in which Operator operates Skill Games. No other commercial activity or gifting may be associated with an Operator Account. For avoidance of doubt, the transactions of an Operator Account shall be limited to transactions with Second Life residents through the approved Skill Games in its designated Skill Gaming Region and Linden Dollar purchases or sales on the LindeX.
      1. Exceptions.
        1. Under limited circumstances, an Operator Account will be allowed to make Linden Dollar payments to Second Life residents who provide services to an Operator for the management and operation of its Skill Gaming Region. Provided that an Operator discloses all such Second Life residents to Linden Lab through the Skill Gaming application process and receives prior written approval from Linden Lab for such Associated Accounts (the “Associated Accounts”), such transactions shall not constitute a violation of these Terms. The list of Associated Accounts that shall be allowed to receive Linden Dollars from an Operator Account must be reasonable in scope. Unreasonable requests could jeopardize approval of the application. The Operator is responsible for requesting approval as needed, in the manner provided through the Skill Gaming application process. For avoidance of doubt, an Operator’s alternate Second Life accounts may not be submitted for consideration, and will not be approved, as Associated Accounts.
        2. Under limited circumstances, in the event that an Operator receives Linden Dollars from a Second Life resident as a gift or in error, such Operator shall immediately return the Linden Dollars to the source of such transfer. Provided that an Operator has returned the Linden Dollars in a timely manner, such transfer shall not constitute a violation of these Terms. The Operator must also send in a Support Ticket with the information regarding the transaction in order to make the Skill Gaming team aware of their actions.
    4. Operator License Fee. Each Operator shall pay a non-refundable recurring license fee on a quarterly basis (the “Operator License Fee”). Operators have 30 (thirty) days from the day they were billed, to pay the quarterly fee in full or their Operator account could be subject to removal from the Skill Gaming Program.
    5. Skill Game Ownership. Each Skill Game may only be owned by one (1) Operator. For avoidance of doubt, group ownership of Skill Games is prohibited.
    6. Operator Requirements. Each Operator shall:
      1. Ensure that “[slgaming]” will be included as a prefix in the root object name field of each Skill Game;
      2. Ensure that the “llTransferLindenDollars” Linden Scripting Language function will be used for all outgoing Linden Dollar transactions for each Skill Game;
      3. Ensure that the following tags are used for each transaction made on their Operator account:
        • For Add-Ons - [slgaming addon]
        • For Linden Dollar Credits - [slgaming credits] (For any L$ Credits earned by the player that expire)
        • For Associate Account payment - [slgaming AA-pymt];
        • For Player’s refund - [slgaming refund]
      4. Ensure that the maximum pay-in amount for each Skill Game shall not exceed One Hundred Thousand Linden Dollars (L$100,000); and
      5. Ensure that every "freeplay" Skill Game that is being operated outside of a Skill Gaming region, must abide by the Skill Gaming Terms of Service and are not to payout L$ as earnings. The Skill Games can, however, payout Linden Dollar Credits and other items of value. Each request to operate free to play Skill Games on a non-Skill Gaming region should be sent in via Support Ticket. The request must include the name of the non-Skill Gaming region along with a list of all the free to play Skill Games being placed on this non-Skill Gaming region.
  5. Key Service Provider Requirement. Each Resident who wishes to become a Key Service Provider, and each Operator who wishes to hire a Key Service Provider, are subject to additional requirements. Only Residents who are providing a service in building and/or designing a Skill Gaming region for an Operator are eligible to be Key Service Providers. Please note, in order to apply for this position, the applicant will need to request this specific application from the Operator. Along with your Key Service Provider application, you must also include a completion date for the service. Additionally, the Operator must send in a Part III requesting for the Key Service Provider to be a temporarily approved Associated Account. The Operator must also include a detailed description of the services the Key Service Provider account will be providing, including, without limitation, the completion date of such services. If a Linden Dollar payment is requested from the Key Service Provider for their services, the Operator will only be allowed to make such Linden Dollar payment to the Key Service Provider from the Operator account, and only within Second Life. In the event of any delays in services by a Key Service Provider, the Operator must submit a detailed explanation for such delay along with a proposed new completion date. Linden Lab may approve or reject any such request at its sole discretion. Once the Key Service Provider has completed the services, the "Key Service Provider" title will be removed from the Resident. If the Resident requests to be a Key Service Provider in the future, the Resident must submit a new application.
  6. Skill Gaming Region Requirements.
    1. Each Region Owner who wishes to designate Inworld land as a Skill Gaming Region shall contact Linden Lab in accordance with its Buying Land policy. A premium shall be added to the monthly tier of each Skill Gaming Region to compensate Linden Lab for the additional infrastructure to support the Skill Gaming program (the “Region Fee”). For avoidance of doubt, any Second Life region that is authorized as a Skill Gaming Region shall be charged the full Region Fee for a given month, even if it was not approved as a Skill Gaming Region for the entire month. The responsibility for payment of the Region Fee remains with the Region Owner.
    2. Each Skill Gaming Region must be a Full Region in Second Life (65,536 sqm). For avoidance of doubt, the full Region Fee will apply even if Skill Gaming is not operated in the entire Skill Gaming Region.
    3. There shall be a limit of six (6) Operators per Skill Gaming Region.
    4. Skill Gaming is not permitted in the Second Life area in which Linden Lab is the estate owner (the “Mainland”).
    5. Skill Gaming regions are forbidden to be placed next to or in close proximity to a non-Skill Gaming region.
  7. Multiplayer Skill Game. Multiplayer Skill Games are “Tournament Games” that can be placed in multiple Skill Gaming regions and played by multiple players simultaneously on those Skill Gaming regions at one time. These “Tournament Games” are usually based on the activity of players during a specific time frame (a few days, a week, a month).
    8. a. List of Multiplayer Skill Games:
    • Super B Bonus v1.02 - Creator: RavieDragon SLSGC / Operator: RACore SLSGO
    • Tombstoned Multiplayer - Creator: Zen SLSGC / Operator: ZenGames SLSGO
    • GREED Multiplayer - Creator: VirsinoResident SLSGC / Operator: VirsinoResident SLSGO
    b. Multiplayer Skill Game Requirements: Operators or Residents who wish to have any third party Multiplayer Skill Game(s) on their region will need to be approved Associate Accounts of the Operator who is operating the Multiplayer Skill Game. Any account receiving income from the operation of a Multiplayer Skill Game, who is not directly operating the game, needs to be an approved Associate Account of the Operator who is operating the Multiplayer Skill Game. Please know that a potential applicant will need to request this specific application from the Operator(s).
  8. Right to Review.
    1. Linden Lab may, but will not have the obligation to, periodically review approved Skill Games and Skill Gaming Regions, without prior notice to Creators and Operators, in order to:
      1. Cross-reference against the information set forth in the applications and legal opinions;
      2. Detect any omissions of any pertinent related information, which shall include the operation of approved Skill Games that have not been recognized by Linden Lab or were not included in an applicable Skill Gaming Region application;
      3. Identify any deficiencies in Linden Dollar transactions by an Operator Account; or
      4. Identify any unusual or irregular activity.
    2. Any Skill Game that Linden Lab determines, in its sole discretion:
      1. Has not been approved by Linden Lab;
      2. Has not been created by a Creator through its Creator Account;
      3. Is in a region not recognized as a Skill Gaming Region;
      4. Is not operated by an Operator; or
      5. Is associated with any fraudulent, illegal or other activity in violation of applicable law or any of Linden Lab’s policies, terms and conditions,
      shall be removed and, in addition to any other rights and remedies set forth in these Terms, the Skill Gaming Policy, and Skill Game Guidelines could result in the suspension or revocation of the License(s) held by each party associated with such Skill Game, as well as the removal of such Skill Gaming Region from the Second Life grid.
  9. Indemnification. Each Creator and Operator agrees, jointly and severally, to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Linden Lab, its affiliates, agents or employees (each an “Indemnified Party”) from and against any cost, loss or expense (including attorney’s fees) resulting from any demand, or any civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative claim, actions, or proceeding (including arbitration or mediation) brought, asserted, commenced or threatened against each such Indemnified Party (“Claim”) by third parties, regardless of the merit of such Claim, for loss, damage or injury allegedly caused by any breach by such Creator or Operator (or any agent or employee of same) of Creator or Operator’s obligations under these Terms, the Terms of Service, Skill Gaming Policy, Skill Game Guidelines and any other applicable Linden Lab policy, or of any law or regulation or right held by any third party.
  10. Related Policies. Creator and Operator shall be in compliance at all times with the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Skill Gaming Policy, Skill Game Guidelines, Gambling Policy and all other Linden Lab policies, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
  11. Modifications. Linden Lab reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to revise, revoke or terminate Skill Gaming Regions, these Terms, the Skill Gaming Policy, Skill Game Guidelines, and the authorization of any Creator or Operator hereunder with or without prior notice; provided, however, that material changes to these Terms will not be applied retroactively. If any future changes to these Terms are unacceptable to the Creator or Operator or cause them to no longer be in compliance with these Terms (as then amended), the Creator or Operator must terminate this agreement with Linden Lab by notifying Linden Lab, in writing, and immediately stop using the rights granted hereunder. Continued activity as a Creator or Operator following any revision to these Terms constitutes your complete and irrevocable acceptance of any and all such changes.
  12. Termination of Account. In accordance with Section 5 of the Terms of Service, Linden Lab may suspend or terminate your Account(s) (as defined therein) for violation of these Terms. Your rights to any compensation or recourse are limited to those provided in that Section 5.

Last Updated: March 14, 2024

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