There are many opinions on how Valve’s Steam Deck may benefit game developers, especially indie developers, but when we heard the announcement we were mostly concerned with one thing: how will Steam Deck affect publishing agreements moving forward? What is Steam Deck? Valve recently announced a new gaming handheld device called the Steam Deck that …
What is Steam Deck? How will publishing agreements be affected? Read More »
NFT art is growing in popularity. But when someone buys NFT art, what rights do they get? What is an NFT? NFT stands for “non-fungible token.” The token is a unit of currency on the blockchain, the technology that underlies Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Fungibility is the idea that one thing is exactly like another. …
Well, it’s safe to say that 2020 didn’t go in a way any of us could have easily predicted. We made some solid guesses on what might happen in 2020 and in 2019 but most of our predictions got derailed by the pandemic. That being said, here’s our thoughts and predictions on 2021 as the …
With the independence day holiday this month, there has been a lot of discussion of revolt and rebellion. One of the biggest acts of rebellion for an employee at an established game studio is quitting to start a new studio. Before Quitting A soon-to-be indie developer should carefully review employment agreements with their current company. …
Going Indie: legal considerations when leaving a game studio to form a new one Read More »
We’ve recently discussed the elements of virtual currency and virtual property in online games. But what types of regulations might apply to virtual goods and currency? There are some interesting ones that many game developers or publishers may not consider, but they should. In the last post, I discussed money laundering. Today’s post will cover …
Virtual assets 102: gift card regulations, virtual currency & virtual property Read More »
We’ve recently discussed the elements of virtual currency and virtual property in online games. But what types of regulations might apply to virtual goods and currency? There are some interesting ones that many game developers or publishers may not consider, but they should. Today’s post will cover one: money laundering regulations. It was reported in …
Virtual assets 102: money laundering regulations, virtual currency & virtual property Read More »
This past weekend, Twitch streamers have received a large number of DMCA takedown requests for alleged music copyright violations in clips that were created in the past three years. Twitch, currently one of the largest video game streaming sites, is recommending that streamers delete any clips that have received takedown requests. 📢 This week, we've …
Why are Twitch streamers receiving DMCA takedown requests? Read More »
We talked previously about virtual property – property that’s solely virtual in nature that isn’t tangible and has no real-world equivalent. One type of virtual property is virtual currency. So what is virtual currency? In this instance, we’re specifically discussing games, apps, platforms and other virtual economies. In many games, players can use real-world money …
Virtual property can mean a lot of things in different situations. How is the purchase of virtual property regulated? What risks do developers and publishers face by including these kinds of transactions? This series will cover virtual property, virtual currency and the regulations behind these assets as this space continues to grow at a rapid …
At the very beginning of 2019, we made predictions as to what we would see growing and changing in the video games industry from a legal perspective. Here’s our predictions for 2020 and looking back at where we were right (and wrong) last year. Subscription services will be the business shift of 2020 This is …