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OffTopic > Publishing game

#100554 - Crs - Mon Aug 28, 2006 6:21 pm

Hi,

Would one be expected to release the source code of their game to a licenced developer / publisher if asked to do so? or is that not normal?

Just curious.

Thanks

Chris.
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#100588 - Lick - Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:38 pm

Perhaps a part of it but never the whole. Generally, they just ask for a presentation/demo. Publishers aren't interested in the code, they want the product to sell.

- Lick
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#100598 - wintermute - Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:10 pm

Lick wrote:
Perhaps a part of it but never the whole. Generally, they just ask for a presentation/demo. Publishers aren't interested in the code, they want the product to sell.


Never been involved in a commercial project have you?

Publishers usually require all source code, including the code for any tools used to generate/process game content.
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#100627 - Lick - Tue Aug 29, 2006 12:14 am

Eew.. Busted.. Well I stand corrected.

However, I got this information from browsing the web for about 5 years. Can't believe that I never ever before read that this is the case. Perhaps I'm confused with indie-publishers or web-publishers.

Anyway, weird truth.
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#100651 - Crs - Tue Aug 29, 2006 9:12 am

Thanks for the confirmation :)
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#100688 - StoneCypher - Tue Aug 29, 2006 7:32 pm

It depends a lot on the nature of the project. If the publisher is funding development, then you almost always have to turn over sourcecode regularly as part of the milestone process, so that the publisher knows that things are proceeding and that the product is of high quality.

However, if you sell a game that's already completed, it's very rarely an issue. Granted, that case is rarer in console than PC development, but if you get a publisher to just up and purchase a game after an evaluation, they rarely even ask for source, and it's essentially never a sticking point. This has been a big deal for me in the past, because I have certain technologies that I want to keep private.
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#100698 - Valmond - Tue Aug 29, 2006 9:16 pm

If ever, you should definitely get a NDA sort of thing so they "shouldn't"
leak / use the code elsewhere.

BTW for milestones, don't you usually show the different versions and
not the sourcecode, at least after alpha version ?

/Valmond
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#100766 - Crs - Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:41 pm

Interesting, thanks that helps a lot.
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