So how DO you acquire the rights to use an existing IP?

I'm always surprised to see how many games on Unity are being made with licensed properties. And not that I'm anywhere close to being able to do this, but I always love to learn.

How does it work?

Do you just contact the company?

What can you expect?

Without other examples, how do you know what's fair?

Do you need a lawyer?

How do you know that there isn't some other prior agreement that you are unknowingly violating (such as, they agreed not let anyone else develop a game for the IP)?

Does it normally have an upfront cost, a profit share, or both?

How can you be sure they are the legal owners?

If there have been things amended to the IP through other licensed works does that make the changes legal to use? Such as characters added to the Star Wars games, if you got the license could you use prior character and not get sued by Bioware?

Has anyone been through this?

 

You would probably have to contact the IP owner, say you want to create a Hulk game.. you would have to contact Disney.
Depending on the company, you might have to have successful products under your belt first.
And most likely if it gets that far that they will allow you to do it, you WANT a lawyer to look of ANY papers that require your signature.
But there are other people well more advised but this is what I have gathered from the many many threads on this topic.
Here is a question though... what do you want to do that would require you to use another IP? Why not create your own character, place, etc and have the ideas based on the IP?

 

That is a question that I've asked many times, myself.

This thread is the flip side of what I already think for the sake of thought experimenting.

The only pro is getting that brand recognition for sales. But how much more money could I get for calling a game "Myth 4" instead of (Generic Fantasy Name)? And how does that weigh against the costs of being allowed to call it "Myth 4".

 

Understand. No offense here.. but have you any games on the market that has your company on it for people to know who you are? An unknown trying to get seen using a IP that is known might bite you simply because you didn't do the IP any good (that is if you get the rights after all the red tape).
Either way it is a pita to get any company seen let alone a following.

 

I haven't finished anything that I would release for distribution, no.

I am however in the middle of a releasing a very polished game that I will be proud of, no matter how well it does.

 

awesome. as long as your proud of what you have done.. that is all that matters.. well that and making you rich lol

 

It's not that I want to be rich, but how else am I going to buy a giraffe with a fur coat and a pimp hat to ride around on?

 

Yes, many many times.
To expand on the points that @Archania made... Yes, contact the company. It will vary radically depending on the company and the property. Using the Hulk will very different than using an obscure or older IP. It is hard to tell you what to expect because it is always going be different. I can say generally for any "active" or popular IP, (Marvel/StarWars/etc), you will pay (quite a bit) to use it, there will probably also be a percentage of revenue as well, and you pretty much have to be an established studio to even get into serious discussions about it.

Really you can only decide if it is fair to you. To be honest, If you are licensing someone else's IP, it's all up to them. Popular IPs everyone wants to use. If you don't like the deal, someone else is line behind you. And unless you are bringing some they want to table, you don't have any leverage.

Not something you will really have to worry about. If you are talking to the IP owner, they are aware of all the other agreements in place. But more importantly, licensing agreements are very, very specific. For example, you won't simply get the rights to use Hulk. You will agree to produce a specific game, with a specific set of guidelines, with every element having to be approved by the owner, they will have very detailed rules about usage, advertising, marketing and promotion. Typically changes won't happen. They will no about what is happening, and your agreement with them will be very, very narrow in scope. Usually the details will be spelled out and if something comes up you can ask.

With big IP, It's important to note that you don't just sign papers and go off and make a game, you will typically be meeting with stakeholders several times a week (can be more or less depending on the stage of the game). And generally, they will have to sign off every aspect.

My first large IP game was an Avengers game, and this was before our studio was acquired by Disney, so we were third party. They were mostly leaving the gameplay up to us so the specific rules on gameplay were about 5 pages. The rules for character usage was a little over 150 pages. We also had specific dates we could and couldn't ship on because of movies, tons of really vague don'ts because upcoming movies. Things like all the guardians characters were off limits (movie hadn't been announced yet), stuff like that.

It was not possible to do anything unknowingly, because it all had do to be approved. You don't get to ship the game until they sign off.

Usually both.

---

Star Wars is a little different currently. Ep7 games are being built, but only by very select teams. And folks working on those titles (internal and external) not only can't talk about them, but can't even really even say that they are working on one. Which is really frustrating... er... I mean it must be really frustrating for those people.. whoever they are. Also because of the change of the EU to Legends, and with new movies coming out, current titles are only centered around the eps 1-6. But like Marvel, if you do a licensed game, it will all be spelled out in great detail, and everything related to the property and fiction has to be approved.

Working on licensed games has its ups and downs. Obviously it is a lot of fun, and as far as content goes, things like Marvel and SW have deep and rich sources. Downside is that it is a much slower process. You have to get factor in approval time and have to be able to pivot if something is a no go. It took me 4 months to do the hologram for Commander, a good 10 or 15 large iterations. (it is wildly inconsistent in the movies, even in the same scene). Or rencently Darth and Luke were added to the game. Since there are the two sides in the game, they were intended to be of equal power to players. Ended being a huge problem, the Lucas team said nope. Since it takes place in ep 4, Luke and Vader cannot be equal. Little things like that.

Sorry rambled.

TLDR: You will have to pay to use big IP and then only if you are established. There isn't much to worry about with respect to usage, you will be told what you can and can't do, and everything will have to be approved before you are allowed to launch.

 

And there is the secret to life... clearly defined goals. Though... I am a little confused. Are you wearing the pimp hat and fur coat? Or is the giraffe?

 

Oh lord, that would be ridiculous. No, no. I'd be dressed like Michael Jackson in thriller.

 

Oh, and thanks for the insights.

Realistically I know that a project like this would be more Chakan or 720 level IP than Marvel.

 

How would it work for an obscure (game) IP that not even owner seems to know what to do with, say Epic's Jazz Jackrabbit or id's Commander Keen?

 

I know something similar to that was rescued from obscurity. The developer interested in reviving the IP approached the owners, and after only a few months of back and forth he got the licence to release a new game based on it. There was some sort of deadline, but it got extended to do the original game justice.

Sometimes you can buy things outright, other times you can get some sort of royalty deal. It helps if the IP owners are generally reasonable people, but have plenty of bigger projects taking all their time

 

Any idea what the IP was?

 

http://www.cascadiagames.com/game_wackywheels.html

 

Gosh, played it so hard as a kid, I mean the original, for dos. Great stuff, didn't know it is making a comeback.