Playing without Rules? Regulating Imitation and Innovation in the Games Industry
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The document discusses the dynamics of imitation and innovation within the games industry, emphasizing that remixing game elements is widely accepted and that cloning is not typically viewed as problematic. It reveals that while copyright and intellectual property legislation are not significant factors in daily practices among game developers, there is a notable tension between inspiration and imitation. The findings indicate varying strategies across indie developers and larger studios in navigating this landscape, with indie developers often functioning under looser IP regimes.
![ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie
“To a certain degree, I think I identify my
personality with my work. […] I mainly focus on
personal stories and moral questions and
everyday life.”
Game Development
Indie Game Designer](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2015-09-katzenbach-vanroessel-epip2015-150907123640-lva1-app6891/85/Playing-without-Rules-Regulating-Imitation-and-Innovation-in-the-Games-Industry-18-320.jpg)
![ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie
“Don’t start with an idea, start with your assets.
[…] I don’t want to say: don’t innovate at all – but
be smart about it.”
Game Development
Manager, Large Studio](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2015-09-katzenbach-vanroessel-epip2015-150907123640-lva1-app6891/85/Playing-without-Rules-Regulating-Imitation-and-Innovation-in-the-Games-Industry-19-320.jpg)
Playing without Rules? Regulating Imitation and Innovation in the Games Industry
- 1. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUTE FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY PLAYING WITHOUT RULES? REGULATING IMITATION AND INNOVATION IN THE GAMES INDUSTRY Christian Katzenbach Lies van Roessel Europoean Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP) 2015 Glasgow, UK, September 2-3, 2015
- 2. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUTE FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY2 Imitation in Games is Plentyful
- 3. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie Imitation in Games is Plentyful
- 4. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie Imitation as Genre Building Imitation in Games is Plentyful
- 5. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie Juul, 2010 Evolution of Matching Tile Games Imitation in Games is Plentyful
- 6. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie6 Art style Ideas Expressions Rule based System Games are Complex Works
- 7. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUTE FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY How can an innovative sector with huge turnovers remain profitable and sustainable without clear-cut IP protection? How do developers handle the tension between imitation and innovation? 7 Research Questions
- 8. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUTE FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY8 Qualitative Empirical Copyright Research Discourses and Practices of Creative Production Research Design Fr. Dougal McGuire CC-BY-SA 2.0. URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-margie/1535543995/ Joseph Steinmetz Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridamemory/8248930619/ Cornelius Jacobsen (Riksarkivet, National Archives of Norway. URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/national_archives_of_norway/6475926375/
- 9. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUTE FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY Discourse Analysis of Cloning Cases Industry Handbook Analysis Interview Study with 25+ Designers, Programmers, Artists, Producers/Managers, Lawyers Reach-out Workshops and Panels w/ Researchers and Professionals Research Design
- 10. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUTE FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY Discourse Analysis of Cloning Cases Industry Handbook Analysis Interview Study with 25+ Designers, Programmers, Artists, Producers/Managers, Lawyers Reach-out Workshops and Panels w/ Researchers and Professionals Research Design
- 11. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUTE FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY11 Findings Imitation as remixing game principles and graphical elements is generally accepted - Cloning is not considered a problem in general - However, in the mobile sector, the amount of 1:1 cloning is considered problematic Copyright and other IP legislation is not prominent in the daily practice. Game developers do not want more copyright protection
- 12. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie … is a common practice among different disciplines and sub-sectors. “A lot of time it's more about picking the right ingredients that are already there. I mean, 95% of what we do, you can say, okay, in some way it always exists somewhere.” Remixing ...
- 13. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie v Evaluation Criteria Reference Points Understanding of Game Development Distribution and Disclosure Game itself Market Success Personal Taste and Preferences Creative Expression of Idea Sharing, Public Claims of Authorship Market Research Combination of Resources and Expertise Secrecy Indie Developers Big Companies Differences b/w Sub-Sectors
- 14. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie “I want my games to be fun, and the second important thing is that they sell, but the first thing is they should be fun.” What is a good game? Indie Developer
- 15. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie v Evaluation Criteria Reference Points Understanding of Game Development Distribution and Disclosure Game itself Market Success Personal Taste and Preferences Creative Expression of Idea Sharing, Public Claims of Authorship Market Research Combination of Resources and Expertise Secrecy Indie Developers Big Companies
- 16. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie “I was really there right from the start, and we researched if such a game could be a success. And then I came up with some really good reasons it could be.” Reference Points Market Researcher, Large Studio
- 17. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie v Evaluation Criteria Reference Points Understanding of Game Development Distribution and Disclosure Game itself Market Success Personal Taste and Preferences Creative Expression of Idea Sharing, Public Claims of Authorship Market Research Combination of Resources and Expertise Secrecy Indie Developers Big Companies
- 18. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie “To a certain degree, I think I identify my personality with my work. […] I mainly focus on personal stories and moral questions and everyday life.” Game Development Indie Game Designer
- 19. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie “Don’t start with an idea, start with your assets. […] I don’t want to say: don’t innovate at all – but be smart about it.” Game Development Manager, Large Studio
- 20. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie v Evaluation Criteria Sources of Inspiration Understanding of Game Development Distribution and Disclosure Game itself Market Success Personal Taste and Preferences Creative Expression of Idea Sharing, Public Claims of Authorship Market Research Combination of Resources and Expertise Secrecy Indie Developers Large Studios
- 21. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUT FÜR INTERNET UND GESELLSCHAFTFolie “I think in the hardcore indie industry, it's okay to share ideas, because they are very strange nerds and they would never steal. There is something like a codex. But for example in our company (.) I have a lot of friends who work for our competitors and I never talk about our current games or the games we have in development, because (.) that's a hard market, it's war.” Sharing vs Secrecy Manager, Large Studio
- 22. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUTE FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY Summary of Findings Remixing as a common practice Cloning is not considered a problem, but part of the deal IP Law not a huge factor Different strategies to cope with the tension inspiration vs. imitation - Indies → Low IP Regimes - Larger Studios → TV Formats
- 23. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT INSTITUTE FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY Christian Katzenbach katzenbach@hiig.de Lies van Roessel lies.vanroessel@hiig.de EPIP 2015 Glasgow, UK, September 2-3, 2015