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British developers must avoid draconian business terms demanded by major publishing corporations, the chairman of Tiga’s self-publishing committee has said.
In a call to action, Patrick O’Luanaigh said “for too long developers have laboured under the traditional ‘give your IP away, never see royalties’ model”.
O’Luanaigh (pictured), who is also the managing director of online games group nDreams, said Tiga “strongly supports the trend towards online gaming and self-publishing”.
He believes independent developers must not so easily relinquish their IP when negotiating contracts with publishers and, if possible, should publish games themselves across internet platforms such as browsers and smartphones.
O’Luanaigh’s comments come as Tiga issues new data from its comprehensive survey of British studios, which finds that the UK game development scene is now predominantly focused on digital and social game projects.
“Online gaming can deliver greater company stability and revenue sustainability for studios,” he added.
“This is because studios can circumvent traditional publisher business models and build relationships directly with customers. Network gaming businesses can create original games, retain their IP and attain greater financial stability.
“Tiga will help indie developers and digital publishers to take advantage of the shift towards self-publishing and network gaming.”
Tiga said it will soon publish a guide to self-publishing book, intended to offer expert advice for the UK’s start-up studios.
