I''ve always heard so many horrible things about people who use images and likenesses of copywritten material for profit or even non-profit use. It would seem apropriate then to attempt to work with these copyright owners rather than against them. My question is this: Are there opportunities for small game development teams/companies to acquire licenses for moderate fees (under a few thousand dollars)? My question could be specified to comic book characters, and the copyright owners involved would be the few big companies. I know that there are huge amounts of money involved in these largely distributed console games, but these are for companies planning to go huge with their release. When licensing, would companies like Marvel or DC even care to give their time to a small independent developer for a title that would be be in limited distribution (maybe nothing more than a website to sell it) for a low price-point (~$15)? Any speculation or specific knowledge would be appreciated. Elijah

quote: Original post by etaylor27
When licensing, would companies like Marvel or DC even care to give their time to a small independent developer for a title that would be be in limited distribution (maybe nothing more than a website to sell it) for a low price-point (~$15)?

No they wouldn''t because it isn''t worth their while for the following reasons:
1. Opportunity costs. It cost exactly the same in time, effort and (expensive Intellectual Property) Lawyer''s fees to do your small license compared to a multi million dollar deal with Activision. In fact their legal fees would probably exceed the value of the deal you are offering (and so would yours).
2. Doing a small deal reduces the value of their property. Why would Activision pay millions when someone else is paying a couple of thousand.
3. You might do a great title with a great license attached and have a cult hit on your hands. Suddenly you have paid $2,000 for a BIG hit and now Activision will be really pissed.

Bottom line these comic (and other) companies are in business to do the biggest and best deals they can. If you want a small deal then you need to look out for small companies and try and spot a potential cult hit title.



Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions
Game Development & Design consultant