They kinda are, or at least people can hate them. If a game you worked on was under NDA, and the project gets canceled, you can never say the name of the project, or show any work from it. I've heard of artists that worked on a project for 3 years only for it to be canceled, and have nothing to show for it. It really sucks if that was your first game, it just makes you feel worse about the time you spent.
I had to sign a worthless NDA for a mobile game. It's silly for companies that aren't huge to worry about NDAs.
Just to clarify i for one uphold the NDA agreements till the time allowed to spill them beans no matter the status of said company, i will one day check that link out JM.
SC you just got to find the right person, i wonder how people don't spill if they are working on something major, do they just beat around that bush enough so someone doesn't ask so what is the title of this project that your so excited about, hmm?
In today's market the last thing you want to do is keep your game a secret. The more people you can get talking about your game in public the better. Obviously less marketing $ needed later on down the line if everyone already knows about your game. Also I doubt if even 1% of game companies are doing something so revolutionary that they actually need an NDA to protect their ideas... ideas! lol! One more thing, cloners will only bother with proven successes, not games that are still in development.
In today's market the last thing you want to do is keep your game a secret. The more people you can get talking about your game in public the better. Obviously less marketing $ needed later on down the line if everyone already knows about your game. Also I doubt if even 1% of game companies are doing something so revolutionary that they actually need an NDA to protect their ideas... ideas! lol! One more thing, cloners will only bother with proven successes, not games that are still in development.
I don't think an NDA serves solely to "hide" an idea from the public. I think with games in alpha/beta for example, NDAs seem to be used to prevent people from bashing a work in progress that might not be fairly representing the final product. Of course, I'm no legal expert, so don't quote me on that haha.
Yeah, I think there's some merit to that thought. However if you take it a little further, I think there's more to gain by addressing the perceived flaws of a game during the course of development in a public manner. It shows that as a company/developer that you care about and listen to feedback from players. I hope that by now gamers understand the difference between a alpha/beta and a polished finished game. Of course there are always going to be haters that want to bash everything though.
I suppose there's also the case of simply having a horrible or very mediocre game and wanting to hide that fact from the public until release hoping to maximize sales with a tightly controlled marketing campaign alone. In that case, yeah... I guess from a short term business perspective NDAs are awesome! Long term though releasing games like that probably just ends with layoffs and studio closures which isn't good for anyone
NDAs in general just strike me a way for the business and legal folks involved to feel more secure about a project while providing marginal benefits at best.
Talk to a lawyer. if you can't afford to, then you probably can't afford to enforce an NDA either. The Worthlessness of NDAs
I don't disagree 100% with the "worthlesness" of an NDA, but there's more to it than that. Depending on where you live, you might get some sort of legal council or assistance from government agencies or non-profit organizations without having to pay anything. If I recall in the United States, defendants under criminal prosecution get an attorney if they can't afford one. And copyright infringement is criminal.
But for a tiny company or team, an NDA can serve purposes other than a means to indemnify yourself in a court of law. As a gesture it can set the tone of the relationship you want have with the person, and what kind of expectations you have. I think of it more as a useful exercise in building trust with the person rather than an insurance policy. And anyways, you can stipulate whatever you want in the document, it doesn't have to be limited to an agreement of confidentiality. You can outline document and asset control policies, explain how people can use the assets in their portfolios without making them public, or even use it as an orientation document for new members, whatever. You can put whatever you want in the NDA. Doesn't even have to be called an "Non Disclosure Agreement".
"As long as the project is active, do not leak any incomplete crappy work-in-progress assets to the public. Feel free to boast about the future of our product, though."
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The Worthlessness of NDAs
They kinda are, or at least people can hate them. If a game you worked on was under NDA, and the project gets canceled, you can never say the name of the project, or show any work from it. I've heard of artists that worked on a project for 3 years only for it to be canceled, and have nothing to show for it. It really sucks if that was your first game, it just makes you feel worse about the time you spent.
I had to sign a worthless NDA for a mobile game. It's silly for companies that aren't huge to worry about NDAs.
SC you just got to find the right person, i wonder how people don't spill if they are working on something major, do they just beat around that bush enough so someone doesn't ask so what is the title of this project that your so excited about, hmm?
I hate to say it but this is pretty accurate. How are you going to stop someone without expensive legal backup.
That being said NDA's are extremely legit in terms of big companies / projects.
Yeah, I think there's some merit to that thought. However if you take it a little further, I think there's more to gain by addressing the perceived flaws of a game during the course of development in a public manner. It shows that as a company/developer that you care about and listen to feedback from players. I hope that by now gamers understand the difference between a alpha/beta and a polished finished game. Of course there are always going to be haters that want to bash everything though.
I suppose there's also the case of simply having a horrible or very mediocre game and wanting to hide that fact from the public until release hoping to maximize sales with a tightly controlled marketing campaign alone. In that case, yeah... I guess from a short term business perspective NDAs are awesome! Long term though releasing games like that probably just ends with layoffs and studio closures which isn't good for anyone
NDAs in general just strike me a way for the business and legal folks involved to feel more secure about a project while providing marginal benefits at best.
I don't disagree 100% with the "worthlesness" of an NDA, but there's more to it than that. Depending on where you live, you might get some sort of legal council or assistance from government agencies or non-profit organizations without having to pay anything. If I recall in the United States, defendants under criminal prosecution get an attorney if they can't afford one. And copyright infringement is criminal.
But for a tiny company or team, an NDA can serve purposes other than a means to indemnify yourself in a court of law. As a gesture it can set the tone of the relationship you want have with the person, and what kind of expectations you have. I think of it more as a useful exercise in building trust with the person rather than an insurance policy. And anyways, you can stipulate whatever you want in the document, it doesn't have to be limited to an agreement of confidentiality. You can outline document and asset control policies, explain how people can use the assets in their portfolios without making them public, or even use it as an orientation document for new members, whatever. You can put whatever you want in the NDA. Doesn't even have to be called an "Non Disclosure Agreement".
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Simple !!!