A Warning to Anyone Considering an Art "Farm"

Enlighter

Just a heads up to anyone considering using a studio that is overseas and has a single representative for communications.

We have now run into two situations using this and other forums in which the claimed "studios" were nothing more then a sham to try and pull art assets and valuable game info from us.

If you have any doubt in your mind about who your working with, ASK FOR REFERENCES. Anyone who cannot provide, or is hesitant to provide references, ESPECIALLY if they are claiming to be a large studio, SHOULD NOT BE HIRED.

Even if you have an NDA signed, it is next to impossible to enforce any breach of agreement overseas (depending on the country). Unless you have a crack pot team of lawyers and unlimited funds, it's not worth the time.

NEVER send art assets to anyone you cannot get verified references for, and even after that make sure you have some sort of intellectual protection in place for the assets you do send.

Hopefully this post will help someone, if not at least we tried.

Cheers,

Small Creatures Game Designs LLC

Anuxinamoon

Dude, this should be posted in general discussion. That sad to hear people out there are doing this.

Hazardous

Disgusting! I've had my doubts in the past with a few places as well, especially after small teams situated in the same locale to said places popped up with game prototypes exactly the same as what we were working on...not just a passing similarity.. a complete duplicate bar names etc..

Nothing could be done as you say.

Enlighter

It is indeed very unfortunate... Glad to see this stickied.

Enlighter

Also if you know of, or suspect a studio of doing this PLEASE POST IT HERE and I will add it to the first post so we can all be aware of any threats out there....

Thanhda

Why don't you post the name of the studio that did that to you? If you still need a real studio, please check your pm.

Enlighter

Thanhda,

They have long since been out of business and I believe a new company had taken the name since. They called themselves Nexus Game Consultants, based out of China.

Either way, if the studio your working with cannot provide references, or if they ask you for art assets right up front, chances are they are not on the up and up. NEVER give out assets to someone who asks for them without mention of any legal documents, or anyone who requires assets in order to give a quote.

Studios with a developed team should be able to give a quote if you give them a rough idea of what your looking for. i.e. "we need 10 animations for a rpg type game for basic movements across a tiled map..." If they require seeing assets and can't give you a rough quote based on that, move on.

DON"T let cheap labor lure you in... There is always a freelancer out there who is looking for work, and there is always someone who can fit into your budget no matter what it is.

If anyone needs advice, feel free to PM me...

Wayfa

There is parasites in most and every business out there... Shameful.
Thanks for the warning..

SnowGhost

Yeah that's sad:(

I remember back in my BF2 modding days someone was going around joining random teams, stealing all their art, and then selling it. I wonder if this is whats happening?

Divine Rage

Disgusting tactics. A shameful thing to do really.

Anyway, can someone tell me a thing or two about how your creative property is handled in general? I'm hoping to get into the game industry, but I'm wondering what my rights will be in regards to my own work. If the project ended, either because of shitcanning or release, what happens then?

Squiggers

Utterly despicable - I've got no time for parasites like that. As you say - the legal cost won't even be covered by the payout that you'll receive.

Reason why I'd definately think twice before using an outsourcing group, and i'd rather use a freelancer where possible.

Thanhda

@Squiggers

There is pros and cons to both, but just letting you know the starter of this thread has went with our studio, and he is very pleased with the work we bring him

Squiggers

Thanhda wrote: »

@Squiggers

There is pros and cons to both, but just letting you know the starter of this thread has went with our studio, and he is very pleased with the work we bring him

Bit of a late reply here...

Yeah, i didn't mean to come off that harsh - not all outsourcing studios are like that, but where possible, i'd prefer to go with an individual probably. :poly124:

DrunkShaman

Anuxinamoon wrote: »

Dude, this should be posted in general discussion. That sad to hear people out there are doing this.

This.

Mazvix

This is the trend nowadays, happened with me a couple of times. "I am blah blah working for this great studio and I am seeking talented artists such as yourself" Guess what? They are pretty much a no-body and they trick a lot of artists in doing work for free and they end up not getting paid. It is sad...but it has been going on ESPECIALLY from out of the country, places like Northern Europe and such.

Enlighter

Thanhda wrote: »

@Squiggers

There is pros and cons to both, but just letting you know the starter of this thread has went with our studio, and he is very pleased with the work we bring him

We are no longer under contract with DS and had to breach it before it was up. We are happy to discuss the studio in a positive and honest light as Thanhda went above and beyond to provide us with what we needed. However this is not the thread for it. If you have questions about the studio please PM us or create a thread inquiring.

I have not seen the other "farm" studios we alerted PC to post back on here yet. Hopefully it stays that way.

Glad this is still stickied.

ironbelly

Wow, any chance at posting the names of these 2 studios so that the rest of us can stay clear?

Ofrst

I also think it will be good that we make a public small list, some kind of pillory for such clients, so we can prevent this to happen in future. Also I'm wondering what can you do with assets that you made for them, maybe sell it to Turbosquid or similar web sellers or give it for free download so everyone can use it.

Hanzz

And keep in mind: paying for workers outside of your country takes money away from your economy, and worsens the economic outlook for individuals capable of doing the work you need where you're located. Take the chance. Give the opportunity to someone in your country. They may surprise you.

Kwramm

> Even if you have an NDA signed

 

Many NDAs aren't worth the paper if you deal with overseas studios and artists (e.g. when you interview them). Either they cannot be enforced, or, if you decide to sue them in their own country, the NDA written by your laws doesn't apply. Example: Your Chinese "partner" will happily sign the NDA and then rip you off, because your NDA is crafted for US laws and not Chinese law works differently. Chinese courts will just dismiss your case.

Solutions:

* Get references and call them

* If your outsourcer has US or EU offices, sign the contract with them

* Read up on local law and craft your NDA for the country your partner is located. You can find templates and advice online, but for any serious relationship, get a local lawyer. 

* Check company registration, if possible

* Get a different outsourcer