3 ms·

> Assuming review builds are unsatisfactory, Publisher will communicate concerns with Developers to ensure any issues are resolved within next build. Unsatisfac

> Assuming review builds are unsatisfactory, Publisher will communicate concerns with Developers to ensure any issues are resolved within next build. Unsatisfactory is defined as the build having missed the majority (majority defined as more than 80%) of promised milestone features. > If agreement is terminated due to missing milestones or due to a decision by Developer to cease development of game indefinitely, Developer must repay all amounts paid by the Publisher Is this normal? I'm not sure if this is a healthy relationship, seems like the publisher takes no risk at all for the development of the game like this, they just take the risk of the game not selling when it releases. And they could affect that as well, by pushing for more aggressive milestones at the end of development if they think the game wont sell enough until the developer either fails to deliver or it is good enough. Seems like these type of contracts would result in a lot of overtime crunching.

dazzawazza 7y ago
I've worked in games for over 25 years. This sort of arrangement is very common. Note there are bad developers and publishers so both get screwed at times. Relationship building in games is very hard, there is a lot of distrust. Milestones can be very hard to pin down as a task being complete is very subjective (when are player controls done? when implemented or when they feel good? what does feel good mean?). You can meet every milestone and deliver a game that isn't fun, you can miss every milestone and deliver a best selling game. At it's core the industry is trying to use the Hollywood movie model for financing, designing and developing games. It's not working, they are far less linear, far more interactive and significantly less well known as an art form. There are no (or few) unique problems in videogames but they do tend to be in the extreme compared to the other arts and engineering problems.
friendlybus 7y ago
There was a disagreement between zenimax and arkane over dishonered's milestones. It pushed the developers to the point of bankruptcy and zenimax ended up buying the studio and then releasing the game.

dazzawazza 7y ago

I've worked in games for over 25 years. This sort of arrangement is very common. Note there are bad developers and publishers so both get screwed at times. Relationship building in games is very hard, there is a lot of distrust. Milestones can be very hard to pin down as a task being complete is very subjective (when are player controls done? when implemented or when they feel good? what does feel good mean?). You can meet every milestone and deliver a game that isn't fun, you can miss every milestone and deliver a best selling game. At it's core the industry is trying to use the Hollywood movie model for financing, designing and developing games. It's not working, they are far less linear, far more interactive and significantly less well known as an art form. There are no (or few) unique problems in videogames but they do tend to be in the extreme compared to the other arts and engineering problems.

friendlybus 7y ago

There was a disagreement between zenimax and arkane over dishonered's milestones. It pushed the developers to the point of bankruptcy and zenimax ended up buying the studio and then releasing the game.