It’s been incredible seeing all the creations popping up in our community since EmoteLab launched. To celebrate the community's creativity, we’re super excited to launch our very first (and hopefully not our last) community character creation contest!

Since this is our first time hosting an event like this, we’re learning as we go, and we might not have every detail perfectly covered. Please bear with us if things aren't 100% smooth.

Above all else, having fun is the most important part of this contest. We want this to be a welcoming space for creators of all skill levels to experiment and share their work. We invite everyone to browse the entries on the Steam Workshop, leave comments, and subscribe to your favorite creations. Your subscriptions will directly decide the Community Favorite Award!

Rules & Guidelines

1. Key Schedule & Deadlines​

All official deadlines are strictly based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC):

• Submission Window: 2026-09-25 00:00 ~ 2026-10-18 23:59 (UTC)
• Community Voting Cutoff: 2026-10-25 23:59 (UTC)
• Developer Evaluation Period: 2026-10-26 ~ 2026-11-01 (UTC)
• Winner Announcement: 2026-11-02 (UTC)

2. Prizes & Award Categories​

We have put together a prize pool worth US$1,300 in cash and digital Steam Gift Cards, plus some exclusive merchandise, distributed across the following awards:

Major Awards​

Best Character Creation (1 Winner)​

• $500 Cash + Hard Enamel Pin + Event Acrylic Keychain
• Awarded to the overall top character creation, determined by a combination of developer review and community engagement metrics.

The Stylist (1 Winner)​

• $250 Cash + Hard Enamel Pin + Event Acrylic Keychain
• Awarded for a distinctive, unique, or artistic style. Evaluated based on overall visual style, appeal, and coherence.

Most Creative (1 Winner)​

• $250 Cash + Hard Enamel Pin + Event Acrylic Keychain
• Awarded for the most creative and out-of-the-box use of model parts and custom textures.

Community Favorite (1 Winner)​

• $100 Digital Steam Gift Card + Hard Enamel Pin + Event Acrylic Keychain
• Awarded to the submission with the highest unique subscription count on the Steam Workshop at the Community Voting Cutoff.

Best Vanilla Character (1 Winner)​

• $100 Digital Steam Gift Card + Hard Enamel Pin + Event Acrylic Keychain
• Awarded to the top character creation using only built-in textures, determined by a combination of developer review and community engagement metrics.

The Meme (1 Winner)​

• $100 Digital Steam Gift Card + Hard Enamel Pin + Event Acrylic Keychain
• Awarded to the most unhinged, chaotic, meme-worthy, or unexpected design.

Bonus Awards​

Participant Lucky Draw (4 Winners)​

• 1 EmoteLab CD Key + Hard Enamel Pin
• Randomly drawn from eligible participants who did not win a major award.
• Each participant gets one ticket, no matter how many entries they submitted.

3. How to Enter​

To participate in the contest, you must complete both of the following steps during the Submission Window:

1. Publish to Steam Workshop: Upload your character to the Steam Workshop and set the visibility to Public.
2. Submit the Entry Form: Fill out the EmoteLab Character Creation Contest Entry Form with all the required information.

Entry form links (please fill out one of the following):

• Google Form (English)
• Tencent Document (Simplified Chinese)

4. Eligibility & Account Requirements​

• Base Requirement: Your entries must strictly use the official built-in model “CoffeeBean” and must be able to run on EmoteLab. Using the custom texture is optional.
• Public Visibility Period: You must publish your submissions to the Steam Workshop and set them to Public upon entry. You must keep them public during the contest, throughout evaluation, and for at least 30 days after winners are announced for community review and transparency.
• Multiple Entries: You may submit more than one character, but you can only win one prize in total.
• Agreement Compliance: Your submissions must comply with the Steam Subscriber Agreement and the EmoteLab End User License Agreement (EULA).
• Account Status: Your Steam account must be in good standing (no active VAC bans, community bans, or trade bans) and remain active throughout the entire contest period.

5. Content Categories​

When submitting the EmoteLab Character Creation Contest Entry Form, you must designate your creation under one of the two categories:

A. Original Characters​

The character design must be original, and you must own the design.

B. Fan Characters​

Fan characters are allowed, provided that they comply with applicable law, the copyright holder’s fan-content guidelines, and the intellectual property rights of the original creators.

• IP Guidelines: You are required to check the specific fan content rules set by the copyright holder of that title/character before entering.
• Mandatory Labeling: You must explicitly provide the character name and credit the original IP in both your Steam Workshop description and the entry form.

6. Content Restrictions​

Your submission will be disqualified if it contains any of the following:

• NSFW, sexually explicit, or graphically violent content.
• Real-world political, ideological, or religious themes, symbols, or imagery.
• Real-world organization logos, regional flags, or national flags.
• Discriminatory, hateful, or harassing material.
• AI-generated content, including design, image, patterns, or artwork.

7. Promotion & Anti-Vote Manipulation Rules​

We encourage you to share your work, but all promotion must remain fair across all prize categories.

• Allowed Promotion: You are welcome to post your Workshop submission on social media, streams, or community groups and ask your followers or viewers to subscribe to your work.
• Prohibited Incentives (No Vote Trading/Buying): You may not offer any extra incentives in exchange for votes or subscriptions. This includes, but is not limited to: giveaways, cash, physical gifts, commission slots, or direct or indirect item trades.

8. Judging, Voting & Equal Opportunity​

• Community Favorite Award: Decided strictly by subscription count on the Steam Workshop at the Voting Cutoff.
• All Other Major Awards (Judge-Evaluated Categories): All award categories other than the Community Favorite Award are evaluated and selected by the developer judging panel. Entries will be judged on completeness, creativity, overall style, unique concept, and effort. While community engagement metrics (such as Workshop likes, favorites, and comments) are taken into consideration as positive signals, they are not the sole or deciding factor.

9. Showcase Rights​

• During the Contest: By submitting an entry, you grant us permission to feature screenshots, previews, and media of your character on our official social media channels, Steam Community hub, and developer updates for promotional and event-coverage purposes throughout the contest period. Full credit will always be given to you as the creator.
• Post-Contest Showcasing: After the contest concludes, we would love to continue celebrating your creativity by featuring entries in future community activities, social media spotlights, or official Steam updates. You can select whether or not to give us permission to showcase your work after the event ends when submitting the Entry Form. Post-contest promotion will only occur if you explicitly opt in on your Entry Form, and you will always be credited.
• Asset Ownership: You retain full ownership of your custom texture artwork and character design.

10. Prize Fulfillment & Terms​

• Prize Payments: Cash prizes will be distributed via PayPal in USD. Digital Steam Gift Cards will be delivered directly through Steam (Steam automatically converts digital gift card balances to the recipient's local currency).
  • Any transfer fees, processing charges, platform fees, bank fees, currency conversion fees, and local tax liabilities associated with receiving a prize are the sole responsibility of the winner.
  • If PayPal services or Steam Gift Cards are legally restricted or geographically unavailable in the winner’s region/country of residence, or if the winner is a resident of mainland China (due to local regulations), we will contact the winner to negotiate an alternative payment method. Financial preferences, transaction fee avoidance, or unwillingness to use certain platforms do not qualify for alternative processing. Any additional transfer, platform, or processing fees incurred when arranging an alternative method will be deducted from the winner's prize portion.
• Merchandise: Physical merchandise prizes will be shipped at the developer’s expense. Due to regional postal suspensions, active sanctions, or carrier delivery restrictions, physical shipping to certain countries or regions may not be possible. If a winner's address is located in an unserviceable delivery zone, we will notify the winner directly to explore alternative fulfillment options.
• Required Information for Fulfillment: To process payouts or deliver prizes, winners may need to provide specific contact or payment details (such as a PayPal email address, full legal name, bank details for alternative wire transfers, or a physical shipping address for physical merchandise). The collected data will be used strictly for prize distribution and will be deleted after the winner confirms receipt, and in all cases no later than 30 days after prize fulfillment.
• Claim Deadline: Winners will be contacted via the primary contact method provided in their entry form. They must reply within 14 calendar days to claim their award. If a winner fails to respond within 14 days, the prize will be forfeited.

11. Contact​

• If you have any concerns about the contest or would like to report suspected misconduct, please email [email protected] with “EmoteLab Character Creation Contest 2026” in the email subject.
• Because participants are located across many countries and regions, available prize delivery methods may vary depending on local restrictions and circumstances. We cannot respond to individual pre-award inquiries about whether or how prizes can be delivered to a particular country or region. After the results are announced, we will discuss the applicable payment and shipping arrangements directly with each winner.

12. Disclaimers​

• Disqualification & Revocation: We reserve the right to disqualify any entry, revoke contest eligibility, or forfeit awarded prizes at any time if you break any contest rules or engage in other inappropriate behavior. Since we cannot anticipate every possible scenario, we reserve sole discretion to address and resolve any unforeseen circumstances in a manner that keeps the contest fair for everyone.
• Steam Moderation: If your submission is removed, flagged, or hidden by Steam Workshop’s automated moderation filters during the contest, it will automatically become ineligible for prizes.