Publishing talks: Versus.legal, SberGames, GreenGrey and Yohoho Games

Versus.legal lawyers have drafted and reviewed dozens of game publishing contracts. They were all different. The size is from three to forty pages. The approach ranges from “let's write everything down” to “figure it out along the way.” Vision — from a dozen approvers to standard “take it or leave it” forms.

Despite the difference in form factor, all agreements have and will continue to have one thing in common: both publishers and developers always believe in the project, strive for long-term mutually beneficial relationships and, of course, want to make money. However, on the surface, the battle for the treaty may not look so peaceful.

We invited both parties to a webinar to discuss with publishers and developers what is important to them in a publishing agreement: which clauses are most critical and what carelessly signing papers can result in.

For our part, we tried to try on these positions and talked about our experience in negotiating: what a good lawyer would pay attention to, and where the risks lie.