Activision: Indie Contest Participants Maintain Game Ownership

Activision SVP of development Laird Malamed clarified in a new Gamsutra feature interview that participants and winners in the publisher's new indie game competition will still be able to maintain ownership of their game properties. "I think there's been some confusion about this... Regarding the ownership of the ideas, everything that is submitted is owned by the person who submitted it, and we take no final ownership of the ideas, the concept, even if they win," said Malamed. "The only time ownership comes into question is if we decide to publish the game, and there's no requirement that anyone make a game that we would publish." Malamed said that any negotiations regarding a post-contest publishing deal are separate of the contest and its rules, and are conducted as a "standard developer and publisher interaction." The first round of the company's first indie competition ends this month. "If you don't win, we probably haven't even seen your submission, so you don't have to worry about that, and if you do win, well, you'll get to talk to us, and maybe we'll publish the game," Malamed said. But Activision does hold the first right of refusal for the publishing winning games. "We do have the first right to publish the game, so if we don't make a deal but someone else comes along and you say, 'Hey, I have a deal with publisher X,' we have a chance to say, 'Well, we can match those terms,' and we do get to publish. Again, that's all subject to negotiations after the contest; nothing is built into the contest about that." Activision's contest, announced last year, differs in a variety of ways from competition such as the Gamasutra-affiliated Independent Games Festival. The publisher's contest, for instance, doesn't allow entries that have already been made public, while IGF does allow for previously-known games. In addition, Activision's contest accepts concept submissions -- entrants don't need to submit working, playable games. Malamed said that not all entrants, or even the final winning game, will necessarily be aligned with Activision's business strategy. "Someone might make something for a platform that we don't participate on, and they may win the contest -- because they had a really great idea, it's really well-presented, well-thought through, and we may say, 'Here's your prize money, good luck, and we look forward to playing it when you're done.'" For more details on the rules of the contest, the judging process and concerns from the indie game development community, read the full Gamasutra feature.