These issues appeared when I started my own company, often through no fault of my own, and other developers need to be on the lookout.
There are moments in all careers when you feel like your world has bottomed out. It’s that horrible sinking feeling, the one where you lose all hope, if not just for a minute, and it happens as a result of issues that we all face on a day to day. If you are self-employed or run your own company, then these issues seem to be more prevalent and the heartache a little more damaging, perhaps because you know that you’re always one step away from losing everything and ending up on the social.
When it comes to game development, these are the main issues that you can face and the things that you can do to avoid those moments.
Staff Leaving
When you run a small business you can become heavily reliant on particular staff. They know how you do things, they have a skill that you need. If they leave you in the middle of a project, whether because they are going to a bigger company or because they have contracted an illness, then you can be left in the lurch.
That’s why you should always be looking to train someone else to fill in their shoes. If they have a unique skill then look to train someone else as an apprentice just in case. Alternatively, tie them down to a contract that ensures they can’t leave unless you have someone ready to replace them or until they finish a particular project.
If you are hiring freelancers then you are even more susceptible. One day your top designer might just stop replying to you. It has actually happened to me. In this case there’s little you can do but to make sure that you only pay when the contract has finished or that you at least require them to meet major milestones before getting any money.
Licensing Issues
No one wants to get a letter from an attorney that threatens them with a lawsuit. We live in a very litigious society and it just takes one misstep for a business to end up on the wronged of a lawsuit that results in bankruptcy.
One thing that can cause this when you run a game company is licensing issues. Simply put, if you use something that does not belong to you, whether you intended to or not, then you can be hit with a big lawsuit and all kinds of penalties. The most obvious way to avoid this is to make sure you don’t steal or plagiarize, which is easily done. But if you hire freelancers to work on your project then you’re putting your business in their hands because if they decide to plagiarize to earn a quick buck from you, then you will suffer.
That’s why you need to check everything that you are sent. Make sure it has not be stolen or that it is not a direct copy. This applies to images, video, animations and text. You should also check names of characters, worlds and the titles of games, making sure nothing is trademarked. This is easily done and it’s worth the hassle when you consider how dire the consequences can be.
Unexpected Penalties
The biggest fear for a webmaster is that they will be penalized by Google. One of the biggest fears for game developers is that their game will be banned or otherwise blocked from sale in major countries.
You can make sure that this doesn't happen by following Google’s rules and abiding by the regulations in the gaming industry, but even then, you could still end up on the wrong side of penalties. In this case, you just have to put some time aside to deal with it, knowing that no matter how bad it seems, there is always a way around it. For instance, if your game has been blocked for sale in certain countries, label it as “controversial” make it a major part of your PR campaign and get the word out. If you have been penalized by Google, get the help of an SEO expert and fix that issue right away.
You can also get insurance to help you with certain issues. Not necessarily Google penalties or sale blocks, but other issues. Check with major providers like State Farm to see what they can offer businesses like yours.
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