Let's say you need to hire a few freelancers across several different countries to solve specific problems that occur during the development, but in order for these problems to be solved you need to give them full access to all the game assets, everything you've built so far.

What can stop them from completely stealing/hijacking everything so far developed and releasing the game as their own?

2 minutes ago, Armantium said:

What can stop them from completely stealing/hijacking everything so far developed and releasing the game as their own?

Nothing.

Just now, TheChubu said:

Nothing.

Yes, but how can you prevent it so someone is discouraged from even considering it?

How the hell do virtual game studios work then?

Let’s not post knee–jerk reactions here.  K, thanks.

1 minute ago, fastcall22 said:

Let’s not post knee–jerk reactions here.  K, thanks.

I find this post incomprehensible, did you post in this topic by accident?

Have them sign an NDA. It really will come down to Contract law. Obviously, once they have access to the source, they have access to the source. You can't force your contractors to not be nefarious, but you can certainly promise legal repercussions to such actions.

You may want to get an Attorney, or at least schedule a consultation with one. At the end of the day, "trust" is the keyword here. If you have any reservations of the people you are onboarding, then simply don't bring them on.

2 minutes ago, markypooch said:

Have them sign an NDA. It really will come down to Contract law. Obviously, once they have access to the source, they have access to the source. You can't force your contractors to not be nefarious, but you can certainly promise legal repercussions to such actions.

How can this be enforced if everyone lives in a different country?

Don't outsource beyond your legal departments jurisdiction? I'm sure there is a lot of untapped talent all around you.

Geez, the point was that you can't do that much. You can make them sign stuff, you could try your luck filling DMCA requests to the sites where they uploaded your stuff, but there are no guarantees.

If you contract someone who lives on a dirt house in the outskirts of Cairo, good luck trying to enforce your contract clauses there.

The best thing you can do is to try to research who you contract. People with long portfolios and a extensive list of published things will be a safer bet, but they wont be cheap. You could try to luck out with a newbie that looks that has talent, but you can't guarantee he/she wont screw you over.

Just now, markypooch said:

Don't outsource beyond your legal departments jurisdiction? I'm sure there is a lot of untapped talent all around you.

So, does anyone here know how Virtual Game Studios work?

I couldn't possibly be the first one with these concerns.