A common question developers ask is: “How much does it cost to hire a lawyer to help with a publishing agreement?”
The typical (and admittedly frustrating) lawyer’s answer is: “It depends.”
While every situation is different, this article aims to give you a clearer idea of the typical costs involved when working with a video game lawyer on publishing agreements, and which factors influence those costs.
What influences the cost of legal assistance?
The actual costs of legal assistance for publishing agreements depend on several factors. These include the length and complexity of the contract, the financial scope of the deal, and the nature of game itself.
Below we outline the main elements that tend to have the biggest impact on legal fees.
The length of the agreement
The length and formatting of a video game publishing agreement directly affect legal costs.
For example, reviewing a contract of 70 pages written in very small font requires significantly more effort than an 8-page agreement written clearly and concisely. Simply put, the longer and denser the contract, the more hours a lawyer needs to spend reviewing it carefully.
Longer contracts also tend to contain more cross-references, exceptions, and dependencies between clauses, which increases review time.
The financial scope
The higher the publisher’s financial investment, the more detailed and complex the contract usually becomes.
This is logical from the publisher’s perspective: the more money at stake, the more carefully they will want to manage their risk. For developers, this also means that contracts involving larger investments deserve closer scrutiny, as the consequences of unfavourable terms can be more significant.
Whether the game has an online component
Publishing agreements for online games are generally more complex than those for offline games.
Online games often involve additional considerations such as as server hosting, maintenance of the online environment, data handling, and ongoing technical support. These aspects usually translate into extra contractual provisions, which require additional review and discussion.
As a result, legal costs for online game publishing agreements are typically higher than for purely offline games.
Is it a self-developed IP or is there a licensed IP?
If your game is based on a licensed intellectual property, the publishing agreement must reflect the conditions set out in the original IP license.
This may include restrictions on creative use, platforms, territories, or distribution methods. A lawyer will need to ensure that these licensing conditions are respected and properly integrated into your publishing agreement, and that there are no conflicts between contracts. This additional lawyer of review can increase both complexity and cost.
Are the developer and publisher already aligned?
Legal costs are also heavily influenced by how aligned the developer and publisher are before the contract is drafted.
If key terms have already been discussed and agreed in advance, the contract process is usually smoother and more efficient. In that case, the publishing agreement mainly serves as written record of what the parties have already agreed upon.
If, on the other hand, important assumptions or expectations have not been addressed, the draft publishing agreement may go through multiple rounds of revisions and negotiations. This naturally leads to higher legal costs.
Costs at Deviant Legal
Based on the publishing contracts we have reviewed at Deviant Legal, a general ballpark estimate for legal costs usually falls between €800 and €3,000 (excluding VAT).
We deliberately do not use fixed or standardized prices when assessing and negotiating publishing agreements. The reason for this is simple: we want to assess what a reasonable fee would is on a case-by-case basis. We do not want to scare developers off in advance by quoting prices that may not reflect the actual work required.
That said, transparency is important to us. We always aim to provide clear information about costs upfront.
In practice, we ask developers to send us the draft publishing agreement in advance. Based on that draft, we provide a price quote, often using a maximum price for reviewing and discussing the agreement together. This gives developers clarity and predictability before any work starts.
We also understand that not every studio has the budget to pay legal fees immediately. If your publishing agreement includes a signing milestone (a payment triggered upon signing the contract), we can arrange for the invoice to be sent after that payment is received. If, for any reason, the deal falls through, we will work with you to find a fair solution.
At Deviant Legal, our goal is to support developers and help make great games possible. That is why we aim to keep our services accessible, whether you are an indie studio negotiating your first deal or a larger developer working on a major publishing deal.
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