Game Design Workshop, 3rd Edition

Chapter 15

Understanding the New Game Industry

Unless you are a producer or an executive, you might never even see the contract or terms under which your game is produced. You might not feel the need to understand the royalty structure of the agreement or the rights assignments for the characters you create. You might want to ignore all the lengthy contract language and business mumbo jumbo and stay focused on what you love—designing games. But if you are going to be a smart, effective, and successful game designer, you might want to think again before dismissing the business side of things so quickly.

Understanding the rapidly changing structure of the game industry—the players, the market, and how business deals are structured between publishers ...