Business & Legal Primer for Game Development [Hardcover]

S. Gregory Boyd (Editor), Brian Green (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2006 | ISBN-10: 1584504927 | ISBN-13: 978-1584504924 | Edition: 1

Business is an important part of making games and the legal aspects have also become significant. Business and Legal Primer for Games explores the major legal and business issues involved in game development with a particular focus on starting a business. The book contains practical introductory sections on business and legal problems that members of the development community are often confronted with. These problems include business structure, contracts, employment law, taxation, and IP. Those seeking to start their own game development company will receive invaluable information regarding getting started, basic business operations, marketing, licensing intellectual property, and exit strategies. Business and Legal Primer for Games is the ideal starting point with any who has ever wanted to start a game business and an excellent reference of information for those who already are involved in game development.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 475 pages
• Publisher: Charles River Media; 1 edition (November 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584504927
• ISBN-13: 978-1584504924
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing resource..., December 10, 2006

By 

James S. Humphrey IV "Jesh" (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Business & Legal Primer for Game Development (Hardcover)

I am an attorney who only occasionally encounters intellectual property issues stemming from "gaming" in my practice. However, like most males my age, I'm fascinated by the video game industry, and in particular, video game development. I picked up this book to learn a little bit more about gaming issues--partly in the hopes of expanding my practice, partly in an effort to learn more about the industry--and ended up buying this primer on a whim. It turned out to be a great decision...not only does this book provide the astute, rock-solid legal analysis I would expect from a legal primer, it also gives an amazing and exciting inside look at the world of development.

The primer begins with a good-natured and insightful perspective on starting your own game company, winds its way through the trials of day-to-day business operations and ends up with some shared experiences from those who have "made it" in the world of video game development, including the co-founders of GameLab. In between, well-researched and easy-to-understand legal advice is dispensed on a wide range of pertinent topics, including intellecual property law, contract law, taxation and even the current state of law in virtual worlds.

In short, this primer is an affirmatively *enjoyable* read--a rarity among legal primers, as I can unfortunately attest--and a must-read for would-be developers and anyone else who wants to really understand the ins and outs of video game development. I plan on recommending it not only to my clients but to anyone who is even remotely interested in learning more about the gaming industry.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Background Information, January 18, 2007

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Business & Legal Primer for Game Development (Hardcover)

If you are even thinking of forming a company in the computer gaming industry, or if you're an outside developer presenting a game to a company, here is a wealth of information. Of course, as one of the contributor says, 'if you have $10 million already and you are starting a game company, then you can afford to hire a lawyer to do all this work for you.' But just to double check the work he is doing you still should read this book.

This book really has two sections. First is about starting a company. This is on all the general business parts like creating a legal business entity, renting an office, hiring staff, product and market analysis, raising capital, etc.

But then comes the second part that is specific to the gaming industry, especially the intellectual property that you are creating as you define characters, the art aspects of how the game looks, and the contracts you will need to have in place with your developers or with a game distribution company if you use them.

There's another aspect that could fit under either of these two as they are not standard for most businesses but not restricted to games either, this includes selling internationally, paying international taxes and so on.

Basically, as the title of this book says, it's a 'Primer,' that is, a general introduction that will enable you to know what you're talking about but not enough to consider yourself an attorney.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars must have for attorneys and business people studying the game industry, June 1, 2009

By 

JM - See all my reviews

This review is from: Business & Legal Primer for Game Development (Hardcover)

This book provides an essential introduction to every aspect of the game industry, and how to successfully navigate the creation or growth of a company. While some of the examples, such as the sample Publisher-Developer agreement, are written from a publisher's perspective, the author acknowledges that and there is plenty of info for developers as well. The coverage of a range of issues, including IP and taxation, from the field's leading practitioners, make this an important foundation for anyone who's serious about the video game industry.