Comments on: The myth of the developer royalty http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/ Biz Dev support for Creative Developers Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:03:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Dan Marchant’s mythical developer royalty « Pixel-love http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/comment-page-1/#comment-644 Dan Marchant’s mythical developer royalty « Pixel-love Thu, 12 Jul 2007 17:18:20 +0000 http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/#comment-644 [...] It goes on here. [...] [...] It goes on here. [...]

]]> By: Obscure » The publisher shall… http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/comment-page-1/#comment-195 Obscure » The publisher shall… Fri, 23 Mar 2007 23:08:09 +0000 http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/#comment-195 [...] have managed to negotiate a deal where the publisher doesn’t recoup advances (as mentioned here) or maybe you have self-funded development and will be earning a royalty from unit one. It might [...] [...] have managed to negotiate a deal where the publisher doesn’t recoup advances (as mentioned here) or maybe you have self-funded development and will be earning a royalty from unit one. It might [...]

]]> By: Raelifin http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/comment-page-1/#comment-194 Raelifin Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:43:55 +0000 http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/#comment-194 I meant that I wasn't presenting evidence, just skepticism. :) And it does make sense now, the developers still get paid the standard fare, but in this instance they think they'll get more from royalties that they actually do. This causes developers to work harder to make better games with no real incentive (money wise). Thanks for the clarification. I meant that I wasn’t presenting evidence, just skepticism. :)

And it does make sense now, the developers still get paid the standard fare, but in this instance they think they’ll get more from royalties that they actually do. This causes developers to work harder to make better games with no real incentive (money wise).

Thanks for the clarification.

]]> By: Dan Marchant (Obscure) http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/comment-page-1/#comment-193 Dan Marchant (Obscure) Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:31:19 +0000 http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/#comment-193 <em><strong>Raelifin wrote:</strong> I’m not one to provide contrary evidence, but I wonder where these numbers are coming from.</em> 1. Actually you don't appear to have provided any evidence... contrary or otherwise ;) 2. These numbers come from the numerous publisher contracts that cross my desk. In the last year I have worked on publishing contracts from 4 of the top 10 global publishers, plus several smaller publishers. Only one of these contracts didn't have recoupment as a standard clause (and that was from one of the smaller publishers). In addition every contract I worked on at Virgin and Ocean/Infogrammes and every contract I saw during those years had this clause as standard. <em><strong>Blueskied Games wrote:</strong> .... If your calculations are true most dev studios must be in heavy debt.</em> No, not debt per se... they just don't make any royalties. Recoupment means they only have to pay back if the game earns a royalty. So, while they aren't actually in real debt they have a paper debt to the publisher and the way in which the repayments are made eats up all of the royalties. This is a problem because publishers often urge developers to work for cost on the basis that they will earn a profit from royalties if the game is a success. However, as the numbers show, a project can be a massive success and the developer still won't get any actual cash. Raelifin wrote:
I’m not one to provide contrary evidence, but I wonder where these numbers are coming from.

1. Actually you don’t appear to have provided any evidence… contrary or otherwise ;)
2. These numbers come from the numerous publisher contracts that cross my desk. In the last year I have worked on publishing contracts from 4 of the top 10 global publishers, plus several smaller publishers. Only one of these contracts didn’t have recoupment as a standard clause (and that was from one of the smaller publishers).
In addition every contract I worked on at Virgin and Ocean/Infogrammes and every contract I saw during those years had this clause as standard.

Blueskied Games wrote:
…. If your calculations are true most dev studios must be in heavy debt.
No, not debt per se… they just don’t make any royalties. Recoupment means they only have to pay back if the game earns a royalty. So, while they aren’t actually in real debt they have a paper debt to the publisher and the way in which the repayments are made eats up all of the royalties. This is a problem because publishers often urge developers to work for cost on the basis that they will earn a profit from royalties if the game is a success. However, as the numbers show, a project can be a massive success and the developer still won’t get any actual cash.

]]> By: Jtrencsenyi http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/comment-page-1/#comment-192 Jtrencsenyi Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:15:19 +0000 http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/#comment-192 Blueskied Games: most dev studios are in heavy debt. :) Blueskied Games: most dev studios are in heavy debt. :)

]]> By: Blueskied Games http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/comment-page-1/#comment-189 Blueskied Games Fri, 23 Mar 2007 10:44:27 +0000 http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/#comment-189 Insane. Especially if you consider how few games sell as much as 500.000 units. If your calculations are true most dev studios must be in heavy debt. Insane. Especially if you consider how few games sell as much as 500.000 units. If your calculations are true most dev studios must be in heavy debt.

]]> By: Raelifin http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/comment-page-1/#comment-186 Raelifin Fri, 23 Mar 2007 06:27:09 +0000 http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2007/02/26/the-myth-of-the-developer-royalty/#comment-186 I'm not one to provide contrary evidence, but I wonder where these numbers are coming from. How often can a publisher afford to screw over a developer before the people who actually do the work look for greener pastures. Are you sure this is standard and not just hype from some freak occurrences? I’m not one to provide contrary evidence, but I wonder where these numbers are coming from. How often can a publisher afford to screw over a developer before the people who actually do the work look for greener pastures. Are you sure this is standard and not just hype from some freak occurrences?

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