SigninG a Publishing Contract

6A. TERMINATION FOR Failure to Launch

There needs to be some time frame within which the publisher must actually publish the game, or it reverts back to you. We have seen many contract clauses that automatically terminate a contract if the game is not published on time. This is not ideal: if you and the publisher are clearly working towards publication, and you’re happy to keep going, you could technically be left without a valid contract. You want the right to terminate, but not a requirement.

You may also want to specify a minimum number of copies or a minimum royalty amount for initial publication. We have heard about one publisher who printed 100 copies of a game just to prevent a designer from terminating the contract. (This would also be covered by a “failure to sell” clause as described below.)

Some designers add a kill fee to this clause: a payment that the publisher owes them if the game does not get published. This creates an incentive for the publisher to actually publish your game, and a compensation for the fact that your game has been tied up when you could have been pitching it to other publishers. Advances (discussed in Section 2A) can also serve this purpose, because you keep your advance whether the game is published or not.