First of all, sorry for my bad English - it’s not my native language.
I’m working in game development industry for a while. Worked in several different companies on small an large projects (mostly as a senior tester). Last few years I spent considerable amount of off-work time learning 2D art and game design. My goal was to gain enough skills to become an individual game developer. I know little about programming, so I was aware that when I finally try to solo a game creation I will require not just a powerful, but also a very user-friendly engine. Now, when I finally started to bring my dream into reality, the Unreal Engine was obvious choice.
I left my job to concentrate majority of my time to learn UE basics and trying to implement some of my ideas. I decided to make 2D side scroller game, but not just about running and shooting. I was really amazed, how well supported the engine is. I had a lot of questions regarding blueprints and how to implement one or another feature, but I didn’t even need to ask them - they were all already answered, and I managed to find the answeres quite easily. Soon enough I’ll have everything ready to make a prototype level where I will be able to demonstrate main features regarding character movement, interaction with the environment, attacking, proceeding through the level, etc. After that I’ll be ready to begin production of my first game. Everything goes quite smoothly so far
There are things, however, I still worry about much… I never developed a game alone before. And my work was never tied to such things as copyrighting and promotion. I know almost nothing about how such things should be done, and need some advice. I’m planning to publish my first game on Google Play. My side scroller will be a paid game without ads, in-app purchases, or subscriptions. In order to make people know about my game, I’ll have to promote it, and I have to start doing so long before I’ll finally complete creation of the game. I also know that before I start to promote my game (or even just show it to the public) I have to register copyrights of my (individual developer) logo, game logo and name, protagonist appearance and things like that.
It would be nice to hear some advices regarding copyrighting and promotion. For example, is it good idea to register copyrights through .copyright.gov ? What is the best way to promote your game if your are an individual game developer with very limited resources?
One more thing. Wanna say thanks to Unreal Engine developers. You created truly powerful and user-friendly tool. I wouldn’t be able to make a game alone without you
I don’t know how this might apply to you since you are in Moscow, but normally you don’t need to register copyright as you own copyright of anything you create. What you do need to register is trademark, and that’s usually for things like your company name/logo and the game name.
You can register copyright, but it’s just an added layer of protection and not a requirement. Though again, it might be a different case for you since you’re in a different country.
So, huh… You left your job, to work a self-published indie game; 2D, platformer… Developing alone… Google Play?!
Well, I would never do that, ever. I would be running back to boss and begging on knees for forgiveness and please give my job back… . .
Anyway, good luck.
Like Bruno said, I would not have done something like that either, not until I would’ve been comfortable as a UE4 user anyways.
The following applies in The United States of America, and I am not sure about in Mosco:
You own the rights to anything you create (as long as you had the rights to create it), and copyright registration is just an extra layer of security, which in some cases is not worth the time or cost.
If you want a solid answer to your copyright question, I suggest that you seek proper legal advice, as we aren’t qualified to tell you exactly what you should know, especially if you are located in Moscow.
Thanks for replies. As far as I know, US and RF have some kind of agreement regarding copyrights, so I believe that “automatic” copyrighting works as well. But I think I should learn more about that anyway.
Well, game development is very time consuming process, so I would spend several years making my first game without leaving the job. Now I think I’ll spend no more than 6-8 months for that, if I’ll keep working 8-10 hours each day.
That being said, the reason you usually wait is so you can maintain security. If you have the savings, I suppose no harm done but you still have no idea if you’ll even get a ROI from your game.
I wouldn’t even think about leaving the job if I wouldn’t have enough savings. Practically, I can work on my game for 8 months without worrying about anything. I’ll not be disappointed if my game will not be profitable - the main goal is to pass through the entire development process alone, and publish the game in the end. Experience of solo development will be priceless. Profitability of the game would be a nice bonus though
