Publishers do a lot of things developers complain about: they take a cut of revenue, they have approval rights over content, they can move slowly, and they sometimes lose interest in the game after launch. However, publishers also absorb a significant amount of legal and administrative work that most developers never see. Self-publishing means that work now falls on the developer.

For any developer who has never self-published but is considering it, buckle up and read on to see what that looks like in practice.

The Developer is the Publisher of Record

When a publisher releases a game, they are the entity legally responsible for it in the marketplace. They take care of things like submitting age ratings to the ESRB (and other age ratings boards around the world, where applicable), handling regional compliance for content restrictions in foreign markets, reviewing store page copy against advertising standards, or even managing consumer protection obligations when something goes wrong, to name a few.

When self-publishing, all of that is on the developer. For example, age rating submissions are not optional in most major markets and are instead usually a condition of listing on console platforms (and increasingly expected on PC storefronts.) Getting them wrong or skipping them altogether can get the game pulled. Depending on where the game is being sold, consumer protection laws can impose real refund and disclosure obligations on whoever is selling the game. Talking to a lawyer who specializes in the video game industry can help illuminate some of these requirements.

Platform Agreements Have No One Negotiating on Your Behalf

A publisher with an established platform relationship, say, with Steam or Nintendo, has leverage a developer may not have yet. They may have negotiated terms for years and understand the edge cases, and more importantly they have contacts to call when something goes sideways.

A self-publishing developer is usually agreeing to standard platform terms on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. These platform terms are usually very long and dense, and full of information that needs to be understood before publishing the game at all, as some of these provisions can come back to bite developers if not heeded. For example, pricing parity clauses can restrict how sales are run across storefronts. Exclusivity windows can limit where and when release happens. Platform termination rights mean the game can be removed and the account suspended, with limited recourse, if content policies are not abided by. Revenue holds and payout disputes go through a support queue instead of a business development relationship.

None of this is a reason to avoid self-publishing, but it’s definitely yet another reason to read the fine print and make sure you understand it.

IP Clearance Is The Developer’s Problem to Solve

A publisher’s legal team reviews games before release to catch things like uncleared music, unlicensed fonts and middleware issues. One of the most important marketing tools for any self-published game is the trailer, and part of the publisher’s job is making sure the trailer doesn’t include anything that’s either going to get the submission rejected before launch or going to conjure a DMCA notice as soon as it goes live.

When self-publishing, that review doesn’t happen on its own. The engines and tools used to make the game have license agreements that sometimes have commercial launch thresholds that can change obligations. For example, Unity and Unreal both have revenue and/or install tiers that affect what is owed to them depending on how much the game makes or how many installs the game gets. Music in the trailer and the game needs to be cleared before going live because it won’t just affect the developer, but also the streamers and content creators checking it out who might have to deal with copyright strikes and DMCA issues for just playing the game. Losing that kind of marketing opportunity because of a lack of clearance is avoidable and solvable by having a lawyer look at the assets before launch.

Privacy and Data Compliance Falls on the Developer

If the game collects any data from players such as analytics, crash reports, account information, or even just an email address, privacy obligations may arise. The alphabet soup of privacy laws around the world (GPDR, CCPA, COPPA, etc.) can cripple a budding game studio that isn’t versed in the intricacies of compliance.

A publisher would typically own and manage this compliance layer, but self-publishing means compliance is on the developer. This includes building and executing a data processing strategy aimed at compliance with applicable laws as well as a privacy policy that accurately reflects those practices. Privacy policies are a legal requisite if you collect personal data and are increasingly a condition of listing. They are also one of those legal documents that should never be entrusted to an LLM to write because of how complex and particular it is to a studio’s specific game and operations.

Tax and Revenue Obligations Have No Intermediary

Publishers handle a lot when it comes to tax. Things like foreign royalty withholding, VAT remittance in applicable jurisdictions, the administrative overhead of paying out revenue across territories, and so much more. Whereas large publishers may have access to accountants and tax specialists around the world, self-publishing developers might not. This means that when developers self-publish, platform payouts come directly to the developer and thus, the tax obligations that come with international sales are the developers’ to manage.

Tax obligations vary by territory and by platform and can add up. Most platforms handle some of this on the developer’s behalf, but not all of it, and the specifics depend on where the entity is formed and where the players are located. A game like League of Legends that has players and servers around the world will likely have a very different tax reality than an offline, single player indie game self-published on Steam. This is very much an area where talking to an accountant familiar with game studio revenue is worth it before launch, not after.

The Bottom Line

Self-publishing is a legitimate and often strategic choice for developers. It gives developers greater control over the game itself, pricing, distribution strategy, and long-term business decisions. At the same time, understanding the legal issues that come with self-publishing in advance can help developers plan for obligations that are often handled by publishers. Odin Law and Media regularly works with developers as they navigate the self-publishing process.