3 ms·
Ask YC: valuating IP of old software games
Hi all,
How would one go about valuating the source to a game like Blizzard's StarCraft? I don't mean the brand or trademarks, but the game itself - the strategy, balance of the races, etc.
Is it protected under copyright law? If one were to clone the game-play (but not the graphics, unit names, etc), would it violate Blizzard's IP?
- patio11 17y agoHow would one go about valuating the source to a game like Blizzard's StarCraft? It is difficult, in general, to place a value on things which cannot be sold. In this specific, a) Blizzard will not sell that source code for all the tea in China and b) the value of it to a legitimate company is very limited, since its only real economic utility is to clone Starcraft and they can't legally do that under your stipulation. In general: expressions are subject to copyright, ideas are not. You can make your own poorly marketed and grossly inferior I-can't-believe-its-not-Starcraft any time you please. (A fact which Blizzard famously exploited against another company which had this idea for fantasy and space opera games prior to negotiations falling through.)