License Keys (Buy to Play)
Sell your games and DLC as buy-to-play with license keys and player entitlements
Turn your app or DLC into buy-to-play content: generate license keys, sell them through your own store or key resellers, and let players redeem them inside the launcher. A redeemed key becomes a permanent entitlement bound to the player's account.
How it works You generate keys in the dashboard and distribute them however you like (your store, Fanatical, gleam campaigns, gifts). Players click Redeem Key in the launcher, paste the key, and the content unlocks instantly. The purchase itself happens outside Game Launcher Cloud in this phase.
Login System required Entitlements are saved on the player's account, so buy-to-play only works on launchers with the Auth System enabled. Guests are asked to sign in before redeeming.
Enabling Buy to Play
Open the License Keys Tab
Log in to your Game Launcher Cloud account, select your app, and open the License Keys tab.
Enable Buy to Play
Turn on the Buy to Play toggle at the top of the tab. From that moment, players without an entitlement see the app locked in the launcher with a Redeem Key button.
Optional: Paid DLC
To sell a DLC separately, edit the DLC and enable Paid DLC (license key required). The DLC shows locked in the DLC Manager until the player redeems a key for it. The base app can stay free while DLCs are paid, or both can be paid.
Generating Keys
Click Generate Keys in the License Keys tab and choose:
Target
✅ Yes
The base app or one of its DLCs
Quantity
✅ Yes
1 to 1000 keys per batch
Expiration
Optional
Unredeemed keys stop working after this date. Redeemed entitlements never expire
Tag
Optional
A free note to identify the batch (e.g. the reseller it was exported for)
Keys look like GLC-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. After generation you can copy them all or download the batch as CSV. Keys stay retrievable later: use Reveal on any key or Export CSV on the whole list, so you can re-send a batch to a reseller at any time.
Batches Keys generated together share a batch id. You can filter the list by target and status, and revoke a whole batch at once through the API if a reseller deal falls through.
Redemption in the Launcher
The player selects the locked app (or opens the DLC Manager for a locked DLC) and clicks Redeem Key.
If they are not signed in, the launcher asks them to sign in first.
They paste the key (with or without dashes, case does not matter) and confirm.
The content unlocks immediately, without restarting the launcher, and the redemption appears in the Redemptions sub tab of the dashboard.
Each key is single use. If the player already owns the content, the key is not consumed and can be redeemed by someone else.
If the app has a Store URL configured in its link settings, the redeem dialog also shows a Visit Store button so interested players can buy a key.
Managing Keys and Access
Revoke key
Keys list
An active key can no longer be redeemed. Revoking an already redeemed key also revokes the access it granted
Revoke access
Redemptions view
The player loses access at their next launcher session. Use it for refunds and chargebacks
Reveal / Export
Keys list
Shows the full key again or downloads the filtered list as CSV
Offline Behavior
The launcher caches the player's entitlements on disk, so owned games stay playable without an internet connection. The cache belongs to the signed-in account and refreshes on every launcher start, sign in, and redemption. If you revoke access, the player is locked out the next time the launcher goes online.
Last updated
Was this helpful?