[LINK] Useful info on licensing/sponsorship

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Originally Posted by alillm

I don't know anything about it, but surely that law applies to business owners prosecuting their employees for discussing financial issues with rival companies? You surely can't be arrested for asking a rival restaurant owner how much they charge for a chicken sandwich!

Ali

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Actually it applies to ANY competing business talking about prices. For instance, if business A and business B both sell product X for $4. Then, they get together and say, well let's both raise the price on product X to $10. It's likely they won't sell any of them because you can get it somewhere else, but think about if it was a rare product, or if ALL business owners did that, OR if those are the only two stores in your area that sell that product. Because of price fixing, they can raise the price as much as they want and if you want that product you'd be forced to pay that much for it.

I don't think it applies here as this is mostly theoretical talk about the worth of Flash Games and not one person telling the other, "let's charge X amount." I could be wrong... I was wrong in the past... once.

Yea, I’ve read up on it since I posted that and I understand it now, but what I said is still pretty much right. You aren’t doing anything wrong by talking about money; it’s when you intentionally try to raise prices that it’s an offence.

I agree that I don't think that law would apply to talking money here, but then I also see good reasons why we shouldn’t talk money, so I'm not complaining about the rules :).

Ali

I don't think it would be illegal to say, "I sold X game to <portal> for $Y". The problem is that it could easily lead to:
"Wow, you sold that game too cheap, next time don't take less than $z for it"
"Yeah, a decent game really shouldn't be sold for less than $z".

At that point we have competitors setting minimum prices, and that is one of the definitions of price fixing.

From Wikipedia:

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Under American law, exchanging prices among competitors can also violate the antitrust laws. This includes exchanging prices with either the intent to fix prices or if the exchange affects the prices individual competitors set. Proof that competitors have shared prices can be used as part of the evidence of an illegal price fixing agreement. (4) Experts generally advise that competitors avoid even the appearance of agreeing on price. (5)

4) Antitrust Law Developments (2002); Art Publishers Association, Bulletin: Be Careful About Antitrust Law (Feb. 2000).
5) Art Publishers Association, Bulletin: Be Careful About Antitrust Law (Feb. 2000).

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Looking at that, I think the policy to not discuss pricing here at all is a pretty wise one. It comes down to intent, and that can come down to who has the better lawyer.

It not just an issue of amateurs and professionals, it's also an issue of people living in countries with much higher cost of living VS some in the opposite situation. There are just too many variables making this an apples to oranges to grapes and bananas discussion. Best to avoid altogether.

I wish there was more (if there is any) portal owners here, because i would like to ask them a simple question
What is the advantage for a portal when the portal makes an exclusive license for a flash game, knowing that the players can play the same game in any thief site ?

@Cimmerian:
the right to sue the others?

That may be cool but he will never know who are all of them

Cimmerian: I assume it's all in the branding. If the game is popular and does the rounds across the internet, it's very valuable for the site to have it's own brand on that game. A non-exclusive deal means there will be several differently branded versions floating around, thus decreasing the value.

I also assume certain customizations, and site specific support are also advantages of exclusivity.

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Originally Posted by Cimmerian

I wish there was more (if there is any) portal owners here, because i would like to ask them a simple question
What is the advantage for a portal when the portal makes an exclusive license for a flash game, knowing that the players can play the same game in any thief site ?

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The theory goes, if a person likes said game, they would click the "PLAY MORE GAMES" link and be sent to the original sponsor's site...Thus driving traffic and ad-revenue up for said sponsor's site.

One more thing, be clear with what you are saying to sponsors. Don't say "Its a deal", when your still waiting on other offers. "Its a deal" means that you've agreed to let me sponsor the game at the price I mentioned and are no longer hunting. If your still waiting on other offers, state that you are still waiting on other offers.

"oral contract" is what Archbob is referring to.

Oh, and another thing. If after we've made a deal, don't take 2 weeks to get back to me. After a deal is Orally sealed, I expect my Logo and any API integrations(2 lines of code) to be made and the game to be published on my website within 2 days. If you delay more than a week in getting back to me, I will have just thought you forgot or ditched me and will have moved onto someone else.

Hey Guys!

I've got some great new content on Flash Game Sponsorship

Kongregate's Premium Game Program (they will fund your game 20k-100k and you will keep all IP)

Flipline Studios (creator of Papa Louie) - offers tips & advice on promoting your game if you publish it yourself.

MochiAds - In game advertising system to help you earn extra revenue while your game travels across the internet. They will also help distribute your game.

XGenStudios - Article on sponsorships and publishing opportunities. They are focusing on MP games and even have a custom server MMOcha they are making available.

Also, I'm trying to compile a list of games and how much they received in sponsorship. This will be a huge help for new developers to gauge the value of their work. If you are willing to share these details (check with your sponsor first) please contact me!

Sponsored Games - How much money did they get?

Uh. Half of those have been posted already. It's not bad, but I'm just sayin... :rolleyes:

But the half that I haven't seen is very interesting!

There is another new one I uploaded just a few minutes ago from FlowPlay on potential licensing deals.

About the price range I'd expected, except one or two games which confounded me that they made so much and were really simple games which I could make in a few hours(basically point and click). A few went a bit lower than I thought but a couple went way higher.

The list of sponsored games and how much was paid is slowly growing. There are 26 games listed now!

Sponsored Games – How much money did they get?

I've added some more great content to the site! Hope you guys don't mind the bump.

Grant from Ratuba Games (Brink of Alienation series) - Independent Developer

Brain from ArcadeTown - thoughts on sponsorships

FlowPlay - looking for non-exclusive licenses and custom work

Gimme5Games - Sponsorships & Revenue Sharing

some interesting links in this article;
game set watch article
the more i read stuff from those eats guys the more i like 'em.