revenue share), reductions in other such support, should be clear benefits provided by the publisher from the agreement. and even termination. Milestones and other elements of a game may Acceptance also include some form of approval Publishers will often want final from the publisher, to prevent the acceptance to take place only developer from rushing through a after certain platform providers technically complete but qualitatively have agreed to list the game. This deficient specification in order to is something game developers meet a milestone. ultimately have no control over, so Approvals can run both ways, with they’ll want a different milestone for the developer being given approval acceptance, for example, once the rights over any elements that the game has met the specification. The publisher may generally have control developer will also look to ensure over, such as promotional materials there’s a clear time frame within and merchandise, post-development which the publisher will review each changes to the game, pricing and deliverable and inform the developer any sub-licences entered into by of errors, as well as stipulating how the publisher such as additional much detail the publisher needs releases. Wherever approvals are to provide in relation to errors. included, the parameters and the process, as well as the consequences Intellectual property of failure to meet such approvals, Like other creative works, games should be clearly expressed in the and the various elements that go agreement. A publisher may also into them are protected by copyright. require ongoing developer support There may be other intellectual post release to help with bug fixes. As property (IP) rights at play such as with approvals, the process involved trade marks (which the publishers will and the extent of support required need to be able to use in order to from the developer, as well as the market and sell the game) and even consequences of failing to provide patents, particularly when dealing 40