Hello all. I'm new here and I'm not sure I did the obligatory introductions thread or not, but here's the skinny on me: I own and make a living from a handful of browser-based games that I designed and developed myself over the past few years. The bigger ones are snods.com, dementedrpg.com, oilempires.com, etc., but there are a few more as well. I also have a few flash games out there with a few million plays on the big portals. I'm blown away by the talent here and am soon going to post a thread in the Help Wanted section to try to get a team formed to help with a new project. It's large (compared to my other games) and it will get completed and it will launch regardless of whether or not I'm able to add team members. The project has been in development on and off for about a year and it will be another 6-12 months before it's ready for launch. I could definitely use a handful of part-time team members to help me get this done in closer to the 6 months vs. 12 months and also to give it much more polish than my existing games have ever seen. Over the past few years I've seen my share of highly motivated volunteers that fizzle out before a task is completed and so I'm cautious about expecting too much from a volunteer team (even one with compensation). My question in a nutshell: Given my situation, what is a fair way to setup compensation for a team of "volunteers" from a site like gamedev.net? I'm really struggling with this for a few reasons... 1) There's the obvious problem of a team member that fades out (which is pretty easy I guess ... if you aren't able to deliver, there's no compensation). But, the much harder situation of a team member who puts in the time, but their deliverables are simply not up to par. 2) Even for team members that stay through for the long-term and are able to deliver quality, there is the potential for a complete flop from a revenue-generating perspective. 3) If the game does well, the bulk of the risk and the investment and leverage of my existing advertising and playerbase will be very large components of that success. Artists are being paid negotiated market rates so they don't fall into this equation. It would be a handful of developers, analysts, content producers and writers. I'm considering a low-end payment per component that is negotiated with each team member that works out to roughly minimum wage and then multipliers based on gross revenue targets of the game within 12 months of launch. Looking for other opinions or options ... Thanks. [Edited by - NateDog on August 28, 2009 3:09:21 AM]

The basic solutions are:


1> Game credits are credit enough --- don't pay. Make sure you have a contract that assigns the rights to you. It is simple and solves the problem.

2> As part of your collaboration agreement (assuming you go this route) somebody should have been assigned to be in charge and also to hold the collective rights. As the project begins to get money, that person is in charge of distributing funds at their own discretion to those who worked on the game.

3> Pay them outright as work-for-hire, with a rights assignment to you.




You already pointed out the difficulties of the first option. Volunteers are erratic, they are often scared away by rights assignments, and you have no control over them.


The second option is generally used for peers. You already have games out there and are looking for temporary helpers. You might also have already incorporated. But there is an even bigger reason to avoid it in your situation:

The more you look like a business, the more 'collaboration' begins to look like 'tax evasion' to the government.



Since you already have a few games, I suggest an outright payment. Either hire them on a contract basis (and file the contractor tax forms!) or hire them outright as an employee (and follow the many laws involved).

Just about any business lawyer can set you up with work-for-hire contracts and explain how to modify them for all your future needs. By paying only after they deliver something problem #1 goes away.

If you don't promise any back-end royalties or further payments, problems #2 and #3 both go away. You can still pay those people if/when the game does well, but you would not be obligated to do so.

If you are so certain it will be completed and will launch, and you have completed others, and you are so confident it will succeed, then you might be ready to become a traditional employer by hiring a single part-time worker (probably for minimum wage + promise of bonus) to help you out.

You need a collaboration agreement which set out the terms. It need to assign rights in assets created so that they can be used in the game and define the remuneration (if any).

Quote: Original post by NateDog
1) There's the obvious problem of a team member that fades out (which is pretty easy I guess ... if you aren't able to deliver, there's no compensation). But, the much harder situation of a team member who puts in the time, but their deliverables are simply not up to par.

You lead the team and decide whose work makes the grade and whose does not - but you make clear that you wont use any work by people who get cut so they don't feel you stole their work and dumped them.

Quote: 2) Even for team members that stay through for the long-term and are able to deliver quality, there is the potential for a complete flop from a revenue-generating perspective.

Do a % split of revenue as that will automatically handle the case where the game doesn't sell (% of zero is zero).

Quote: 3) If the game does well, the bulk of the risk and the investment and leverage of my existing advertising and playerbase will be very large components of that success....

Hmmmm these things have potential value but unless you and the team create the product to actually cash in on that potential it will actually have zero value. Execution is where the value is but if you want to put a value on this potential then do so up front. The first $X
earned by the project goes to the company to be reinvested in the companies future.

Quote: I'm considering a low-end payment per component that is negotiated with each team member that works out to roughly minimum wage and then multipliers based on gross revenue targets of the game within 12 months of launch.

There are a multitude of ways to pay. You selected idea is as good as any. Just make sure it is clear up front. The only real problems with indie projects is where details are unclear and someone starts to imagine unrealistic returns which then leads to disappointment.

Good luck with the project.

Thanks to both of you for the feedback and opinions.

Quote: If you are so certain it will be completed and will launch, and you have completed others, and you are so confident it will succeed, then you might be ready to become a traditional employer by hiring a single part-time worker (probably for minimum wage + promise of bonus) to help you out.

Just to clarify ... I am confident it will actually get done and launch and generate some amount of revenue. But, I'm a realist when it comes to making money with small budget games on the internet ... most do not. Hence, the dilemma ;)

I have some work to do to get all the documents squared away but I think minimum wage type on-going pay based on deliverables, with a possibility of post-launch bonuses is the direction I will be going. Thanks again.