The Legal Side of Publishing: How to Sign Deals with Publishers Without Losing Control of Your Game
Valery Stalirov
Stalirov&Co, CEO
- When:
- 29.11.2025, 16:00–17:00
- Hall:
- Water Hall
This lecture focuses on how developers can negotiate publishing agreements wisely — preserving their rights to the game and ensuring fair profit.
Using real-world cases from Stalirov&Co, we’ll explore common studio mistakes, financial pitfalls in contracts, IP protection mechanisms, and best practices for reporting and marketing oversight.
Participants will receive step-by-step guidance on how to legally safeguard their projects before entering the market.
What the talk is about
Valery Stalirov explains what to check in a publishing agreement so that a studio keeps control of its game. He splits the deal into three risk areas: who owns the intellectual property, how the publisher recoups its investment and shares revenue, and who makes the key product decisions. Using public cases — Bungie and Activision, Remedy and 505 Games, Ready at Dawn and Sony — he shows how the licensing model shaped what happened to each game. His practical advice: a licence limited by term and territory instead of a perpetual, irrevocable one; caps on marketing spend; regular reporting and audit rights; milestones with clear acceptance criteria; a kill fee; and the right to reuse your work after termination. Useful for indie studios and founders before negotiating with publishers.