GarageGames coming to GDC with new programs

[garagedave]

GarageGames is going to be at GDC in SF this year, if you would like to meet with us please e-mail me. A lot of cool things going on. daves@garagegames.com


Independent game developers, this is your chance to turn your dream game into reality by winning a publishing contract for the InstantAction game platform. The winning entry will join games made by other well-known industry heavyweights. Finalists will be announced at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, with the winner being announced shortly thereafter.

Contest details can be found here:


http://www.garagegames.com/solutions/ia/contest_2008/

Prize details can be found on the InstantAction Blog here:

http://blog.instantaction.com/2007/12/instantaction-c.html

Submit your games now to GameDevContest08@garagegames.com

[ChrisP]

I would enter that contest in a heartbeat... if I was a US resident! Ah well.

[garagedave]

You don't have to be a US resident to enter. You can be a developer from ANYWHERE. Check the contest rules.

[ggambett]

You mean the first paragraph that reads "The 2008 InstantAction Game Developer Contest (the "Developer Contest") is offered and open only to legal residents of United States and its territories (except residents of Puerto Rico) at least 18 years old at the time of entry."?

[Adrian Cummings]

Ah ha! some good wheezes to be had on here today then LOL :)

[luggage]

Winner must enter into a standard IA publishing contract and adhere to all terms and conditions of that agreement.Not sure about anyone else but this would make me a little uncomfortable. Agreeing to a contract without knowing any of the terms and conditions? And what does it mean by 'standard'? Standard for competition winners? Standard for all developers? Standard for people we don't want to give any money to? Not that I think that's the case but I know lawyers are cagey about terms like 'standard' - especially when there's no actual definition for what the standard is.

Oh. And doesn't the bit in bold basically mean once you've entered the competition IA can do as they like and there's nothing you can do about it?

[garagedave]

Not sure about anyone else but this would make me a little uncomfortable. Agreeing to a contract without knowing any of the terms and conditions? And what does it mean by 'standard'? Standard for competition winners? Standard for all developers? Standard for people we don't want to give any money to? Not that I think that's the case but I know lawyers are cagey about terms like 'standard' - especially when there's no actual definition for what the standard is.

Oh. And doesn't the bit in bold basically mean once you've entered the competition IA can do as they like and there's nothing you can do about it?

It means if you would like more details, then contact bizdev@garagegames.com Believe me I hate lawyers as much as the next guy. Obviously you have to agree to the contract, nobody expects you to just sign on the dotted line without reading it. Also there are basic contracts in game publishing, is should have said industry standards. The guy that wrote it needs to edit it a bit I think. If you want all of the details then bizdev is the place to ask! It got your attention though didn't it?

[garagedave]

You mean the first paragraph that reads "The 2008 InstantAction Game Developer Contest (the "Developer Contest") is offered and open only to legal residents of United States and its territories (except residents of Puerto Rico) at least 18 years old at the time of entry."?


LET ME GET FURTHER CLARIFICATION ON THIS. I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS OPEN TO EVERYBODY, NOW THAT GARAGE IS GETTING AN INTERNATIONAL GUY ONBOARD HE WAS TOLD TO OFFER IT TO EVERYBODY WORLDWIDE. WILL LET YOU KNOW A.S.A.P....

[garagedave]

You don't have to be a US resident to enter. You can be a developer from ANYWHERE. Check the contest rules.

LET ME GET CLARIFICATION ON THIS, IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CHANGED.

[garagedave]

LET ME GET CLARIFICATION ON THIS, IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CHANGED.

THE LEGAL GUYS HAVE SAID THAT SINCE IT IS SO CLOSE TO GDC NOW, IT'S A PAIN IN THE ASS TO CHANGE IT, THAT THEY ARE GOING TO RESTRICT IT THIS TIME, BUT WHEN ROUND TWO STARTS - SOON, THEN IT'S OPEN TO ALL. GET READY FOR IT INTERNATIONAL GUYS.
IT'S NOT THE DECISION OF THE BIZDEV GUYS.

[garagedave]

THE LEGAL GUYS HAVE SAID THAT SINCE IT IS SO CLOSE TO GDC NOW, IT'S A PAIN IN THE ASS TO CHANGE IT, THAT THEY ARE GOING TO RESTRICT IT THIS TIME, BUT WHEN ROUND TWO STARTS - SOON, THEN IT'S OPEN TO ALL. GET READY FOR IT INTERNATIONAL GUYS.
IT'S NOT THE DECISION OF THE BIZDEV GUYS.

Sorry guys, latest news! The second round will be open internationally. The legal guys didn't know if they needed approval to offer it overseas, and when they found out, it is basically too much of a hassle to change it and the deadline is in 10 days anyway. But you can get ready for round two! I love lawyers - NOT!

[luggage]

It means if you would like more details, then contact bizdev@garagegames.com Believe me I hate lawyers as much as the next guy. Obviously you have to agree to the contract, nobody expects you to just sign on the dotted line without reading it. Also there are basic contracts in game publishing, is should have said industry standards. The guy that wrote it needs to edit it a bit I think. If you want all of the details then bizdev is the place to ask! It got your attention though didn't it?Any chance you can lay off the bold and the capitals please?

Yes, I could email 'bizdev' to get some clarification but there may be a few people reading this thread who might not have considered it. Besides that, if the terms and conditions need clarification then they aren't explained clearly enough. If I show that to my lawyer and ask them if I should agree to it they will say "Not a chance."


Obviously you have to agree to the contract, nobody expects you to just sign on the dotted line without reading it.That isn't what the terms and conditions say - in fact they say the exact opposite. I'd be crazy to enter a competition with the current wording and my only protection would be a post from yourself saying "obviously...".

I would still be nervous with "industry standard" - what industry standard? There isn't an industry standard for contracts, nor as is there a 'basic' contract as far as I'm aware. Why not just show this contract so people can see what they're getting into?

[Teeth]

LET ME GET FURTHER CLARIFICATION ON THIS. I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS OPEN TO EVERYBODY, NOW THAT GARAGE IS GETTING AN INTERNATIONAL GUY ONBOARD HE WAS TOLD TO OFFER IT TO EVERYBODY WORLDWIDE. WILL LET YOU KNOW A.S.A.P....

lol! scared you there? chill out dude...

[GarageGames]

Any chance you can lay off the bold and the capitals please?

Yes, I could email 'bizdev' to get some clarification but there may be a few people reading this thread who might not have considered it. Besides that, if the terms and conditions need clarification then they aren't explained clearly enough. If I show that to my lawyer and ask them if I should agree to it they will say "Not a chance."

That isn't what the terms and conditions say - in fact they say the exact opposite. I'd be crazy to enter a competition with the current wording and my only protection would be a post from yourself saying "obviously...".

I would still be nervous with "industry standard" - what industry standard? There isn't an industry standard for contracts, nor as is there a 'basic' contract as far as I'm aware. Why not just show this contract so people can see what they're getting into?

Hey there guys,

So, apologies for the confusion on the InstantAction Developer Contest. Dave Solomon (posting above) has a lot of experience working with game developers overseas, so we asked him to help us get the word out to Indies overseas and he's working on some limited information right now so he didn't know about the contest only being open to US residents for this first round.

In round 2, we're going to open it up as far as we can. The legal stuff with doing a contest is actually a huge PITA, but they're fun and a really good chance for devs to get their games in front of a big audience.

On the details quoted above, I think "luggage" is misunderstanding the terms. Again, probably our fault for not doing a better job explaining, but the contest works like this:

-You as a dev can submit your game with no obligation to publish or do anything else with InstantAction or GarageGames...win or lose.
-If you win, in addition to getting kickass development tools like the whole suite of Torque engine products and Unity tool, you get a slot to publish your game on InstantAction under our standard publishing agreement. We obviously can't disclose what that agreement looks like publicly, but it's no different that what we offer anyone with a great game to publish.

So winning the contest is winning the offer of this contract. It is true that details of the contract are not publicly available, but we've said publicly before and we stand by our developer contract terms being the best in the games industry. As a standard practice, we're funding the development of games while letting the developers own the IP. This is pretty much unheard of. The funding is not an advance against royalties on the game. It is a development fee paid to the developer to finish a game to be published on InstantAction. If anyone out there has a better deal than that, no one at GarageGames has heard of it and we've looked at publishing our games everywhere. That + offering affordable game development tools with a proven track record of success (including console portability with Torque) should get developers everywhere fired up to makes some great games.

Thanks to the posters on this thread who tried to clear up the confusion about the contest earlier. Again, just a combination of miscommunication and Dave being overly eager and not used to posting in these or other indie-friendly forums.

Brett Seyler
GG

[ChrisP]

Thanks for the clarification Brett. I'll await round two, then.

I'd be more comfortable about the contract issue if the terms were worded as "Winner must sign contract *or* choose to waive all prizes", or similar. As written, there doesn't appear to be any way for the winner to opt out of signing this unseen contract. Not that I think GG is out to get anyone, quite the opposite; I'm sure it wasn't intended to read like that. It's just that with a contract, it is of course the wording that matters, not the intent. :)