Understanding the creative industry: Legal Issues
Legal isues within the gaming industry play a large role in how the industry works, and how the games are presented to us. There are many ways in which they affect the companies, being EULA's, payment deadlines and rights, and the users in the form of piracy and the SOPA. In the page I'll be exploring how these affect the market.
38 Studious and its game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, is one such company affected by laws in the gaming industry. Curt Schilling, founder of 38 Studios, was offered a hansom $75 million by the state of Rhode Island to move his company to their state and to create 450 jobs, with fair terms to pay the money back over time. Over 160 employees moved from Massachusetts to Rhode Island in 2010, and they started development on Kingdoms of Amalur and Project Copernicus. Amalur was finally released in early 2012. But due to a massive lack of promotion and advertising, in the first 90 days it only sold 1.2 million (but still more than EA's predictions), compared to the 3 million the company needed just to break even with what they invested into the game. Within a month of that, over 150 people lost their jobs as 38 Studios defaulted as they couldn't pay back the loan to the State. Personally I believe their main downfall was simply a lack of promotion. Before we studied this in class, I had never even heard of 38 Studios, let alone Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. If more people new about the game, surely it would of sold more copies. 38 Studios main focus on promotion was to cross promote with the game Mass Effect 3, by allowing you to unlock new skins similar to the characters from Amalur on Mass Effect 3. This could of brought a lot gamers, but I believe not as much as they would of if they had done TV adverts or billboards. As of this, the company are now bankrupt and now over 150 people who moved states are out of a job. Also, they game could of been amazing, yet due to the lack of promotion many people won't get to experience the game. Piracy is a huge part of the legal issues debate, in both the industry and the gamer side of the argument. SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), are a company set up ensure the enforcement of copyright acts. They aim to stop streaming of illegal downloading in all of the internet, but it could have a huge effect on the gaming industry. If SOPA got full grants of power which it is asking for, sites such as Youtube and parts of Google will collapse, as well as free online gaming streaming. The ESA have pledged their support to SOPA, but many members of the association disagree and have boycotted the 2012 E3. I don't believe SOPA is good for anyone. It is an unfair and brutal bill which I believe echos dangerously close to China's Firewall. I understand that stealing is wrong, especially in the games industry as a lot of people have dedicated their expertise into games. But by blocking out sites which allow you to experience games will simple make it harder for up and coming game companies to break through.
The other side of the argument is home piracy. It comes in many forms, such as downloading games, jail breaking and chipping. Piracy in my eyes is wrong - don't be a cheapskate, just buy the game. People have worked hard on games, such as Assassin's Creed II (which has a 96% piracy rate on PC's), so pay the £40 and get the game, show your support. Though often is the case that it's not that simple. as many countries such as China have bans on certain games, so piracy could be the only way of obtaining the game. Every game stolen is a profit lost for companies, and like 38 Studios, companies can very easily default without profits being made.
EULA's can also effect the user of the game. EA and Sony both have the popular EULA, in which when you except, you lose your rights for a class action lawsuit. This basically means if you wish to take Sony or EA to court, you mus do it alone, with no parties. Gamers may have been affected by the games, or had problems with consoles or games, now cannot take them to court (if they do they will almost certainly lose the case). If the person hadn't read the EULA, but still went to court, they could lose massive amounts of money on court fees. This then could affect the gamer, as they could be less inclined to use Sony or EA products. Most parts of the EULA are stating that you cannot file share the copy, your rights to your warranty and things alike, but cases like this always enforce that you should always read the fine print.
There are many legal issues which are affecting the gaming market. Problems such as SOPA can change the industry greatly, wheras many others such as EULA's play smaller parts.
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/38_Studios (14/10/12)
http://www.shacknews.com/article/73968/kingdoms-of-amalur-needed-3-million-sales-to-break-even (14/10/12)
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-01-11-mass-effect-3-kingdoms-of-amalur-cross-promotion (14/10/12)
http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/17/sopa-controversy-creates-rival-to-game-industry-group-esa-lfg-aims-to-be-the-nra-for-gamers/(14/10/12)
http://www.realisingdesigns.com/assets/uploads/2012/01/stop-sopa.jpg (14/10/12)
http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/1/11419/2147835-38_studios___logo.jpg (14/10/12)
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-ridiculous-eula-clauses-agreed/(14/10/12)
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