Game/Level licensing... What's it worth?

I firmly believe this post may help me and many others when they encounter the situation I have....

I'm in the beginning steps to negotiating licensing of my River Bend Game, and my 3D minigolf game. The excitement is beyond explaination

The company (a software and technologies company) wants to release several games bundled with their gaming product next year. In order to be able to use the games, they need to make some code changes themselves from an already finished product.

They are not a game making company, so they do no in-house development, so they're looking for finished products or easy-to-complete/near complete projects for their product.



They've got several options which can be explored:

a) License a single level, or several levels...
b) License the games in their entirty
c) Hire me to do development of games for their application.

Theyre a publicly traded company and have also suggested stocks as part payment as well as money, and as well as percentage of units sold.

They've also suggested they would be interested in only license the games for their particular application, while I could keep the licensing/rights to the games for 'normal' PC use so I may still publish/sell the games myself.

Ive done a lot of research, and they are a good and stable company. In fact, research was a breeze because they're all over the internet with dozens of reviews of their yet to be released product. From the reviews, they stand to make a LOT of sales of their product.

So what's a completed level worth? What's an entire game worth? What would you do in this situation, or what HAVE you done in this situation?


Jason

Good on you for getting that far, most people dont. I personally don't know because I have never completed a full game yet, but keep up the good work, and I might even buy your game...

Well... the worth of a level/game is pretty much determined apon its quality. I mean, not all games are created equal. So, to be honest, you are the best one to know how much your game/level is worth. If it is too high for the contract, either cut your losses and leave the table, or step the price down.

I have seen prices anywhere from 50$, for the basics of basics, to several hundred dollars, for a mid to high quality level.

I dont know how much screenshots will help, but perhaps others could gauge its worth based on its overall quality???

So... that is my advice. Vague? Yes, but without seeing it, I couldnt really point to a number. Even with seeing it, I may not be able to...

If you want to know what I would do... I would lisence the whole game over. That would be the most money, and frankly, publishing a game yourself can be VERY hit and miss, and dosent guarantee any profits. So, sinse this sounds more reliable, go ahead and lisence the game over .

Anyways, good luck with the contract.
Raddadddy

So you would suggest he would only be looking at a couple of hundred were he to licence the whole game or were those monetary values geared more towards a single level?

I'd ask which company you are dealing with but that would be nosey....

the values I gave, 50-several hundred, reflected single levels Ive seen. Again, it depends on the quality of the game, to decide a fair price.

If you have no idea what you should demand for your levelwork,
just do a simple calculation:

Worktime per level * medium salary for a designer.

So if a level takes you 20 hours and you take a 15$ salary
it would be 300$ per level.

this is just a speculation, but on a competaitive marked, the prices will
level out on the average production costs. (regarding that others
will offer level-work too to the company)

in the end the price is allways what both parties are willing to agree on.

Quote:

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What would you do in this situation, or what HAVE you done in this situation?

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My predictable answer: hire a lawyer!

This way you will be sure to get fair pricing on you level or game and he/she will be able to suggest the best course of action. Be sure to do a pre-interview with them which should be at no cost (if they charge you for merely scoping them out, walk away). Explain the situation (usually you will have 1/2 hour free so prepare and be concise) and note what they can do for you and at what price. If you have a strong enough product, you may work out a deal with the lawyer so that the the more money he gets for you, the more he makes (forget right now what that's called) and that is a GREAT incentive for him to go to bat for you.

I say this because you are WAY low-balling your efforts. If they want to license your game, you should be thinking in the thousands, not hundreds, and a lawyer will be able to put this thinking into more concrete terms. Furthermore, licensing a single level is not the same as selling a level since they will have much more creative freedom over it, hence there as well I would start in the hundreds and not the tens.

Going at this blind may land you a fair deal, but if this is a publically traded company you KNOW they have lawyers on their side trying to get the most bang for the least buck and so should you.
Consult a professional, Blue. We can give you opinions, but ultimetely what you want is money and that is something for you and a professional (ie lawyer) to hash out, not us.