I’m planning on hiring a couple of freelancers (both coders and artists) from abroad for a project I’m working on. I must say, I have zero experience in dealing with international contractors.
Maybe some of you guys have already done it or maybe you were hired yourself. I hope you can help me with my questions:
Would it make sense to use an escrow service? Which one would you recommend? I was thinking of using a job board like Odesk for the protection they offer. However they take quite a large cut as far as I can tell.
I’ve heard some people use Paypal for protection, which allows you to retract payments. Any goods (art or code) must be delivered in a physical way (DVD, Thumbdrive) in order to be able to file a dispute with Paypal.
Do you even bother with NDAs? I would assume it would be hard to enforce it internationally anyway. Or do you use contracts/NDAs more as a guideline for both parties, knowing that any legal disputes would cost way too much money to be worth it.
Do you have any contract and NDA templates that I could use?
How can I know if a contractor is using pirated software (Unity Pro, 3ds Max, Photoshop)? I would be very scared of having my game pulled from the App store if it turns out that some assets were created with pirated software (could that even happen?).
I’ve hired several people from all over the world. The best advice I can give is do your research. Read the forums and see what others are saying about the people. Check portfolios for past examples of their work. Do not take the persons word for it.
I never have. We have typically used PayPal. Normally, you’ll offer a portion of the payment up front, then the rest after they deliver the product. This assures them that you are actually serious about paying them, and assures you that they will actually finish the job.
I would also recommend getting a General Contractor contract, which will specify exactly what they’re doing and exactly what you’re paying them.
I’ve often used NDAs, but its typically a formality. I’ve never once had to enforce one. Usually, if you find a reliable artist or programmer with a solid track record, this isn’t something you need to worry about, but you may still want to have them sign one, just so you’re both on the same page.
Sorry, I’ve long forgotten where I originally grabbed my contracts from. Just do a google search for NDA Template and General Contractor. You should be able to find them rather quickly.
You can’t really. Its also not your problem. That’s something that should be specified in your contract; its not your responsibility to determine how they finish the job (they can bring in sub-contractors, get whatever software they need, etc, etc), as long as, in the end, you receive your product and you pay them what they are owed.
P.S. There should also be a stipulation in the contract that says you are not responsible for any sub-contractors that person brings in.
I wonder if its better to hire a big company (who simply farm it out to subcontractors) or to simply work with the devs themselves. I would also use milestones only pay them so much upfront, so much for the prototype, the beta, the alpha and the final product that way there is an incentive for them to keep working
Milestones are a common practice. Hiring a larger studio is also possible, but as they will be dealing with the artists/programmers etc you will be paying for their overhead and their profit. This is to be expected, it all depends on your budget and time constraints (also experience).
I’m still worried about that though. I mean contracts are nice and all but it’s rather difficult (not to mention costly) to sue somebody for damages, especially an overseas contractor.
Is there any way to check if code or assets were created with pirated software? Or should I ask the contractor to show me a proof of purchase or something like that?
By the way, thanks a lot for all the great replies folks. This is a great community.
Milestones, milestones and milestones. I’d suggest start with a smallish milestone to establish trust on both parts, then gradually increase them in size once quality of work and level of professionalism has been attained. Keeping them small minimizes risk to both parties.
Another thing I’d clearly have drawn up and agreed upon each time is the EXACT DELIVERABLES for each milestone. Put it in a PDF and have that as the reference with the agreed upon amount to be paid in that same PDF. If something gets changed or added, UPDATE THE PDF and adjust the costs.
Taking someone to court in another country is a waste of your time. Last year I got all trusting and fuzzy on a new client who sounded so nice and convincing over Skype, but then I got screwed out of 6 weeks of work payment and if I wanted to take them to court I’d have had to go to their country and get a lawyer there. Very costly and time consuming, so not worth it. I was also told I had to represent myself there in court, you can’t just send somebody on your behalf.
I work as a freelancer and also have hired many artists and some sound guys. Start with some small milestones to build trust. You can usually get a small portion of work done up front before the first payment.
Each contractor has a page with hours count, history on odesk and feedbacks from past clients by contracts.
There is also a Diary system when using the time tracking tool when you can review what your contractor is doing.
That is a about 1 screenshoot every 10 min but you can set up it on your side.
Also if a contractor remove a screenshort for his diary it substract working time allocated the screen.
Well using odesk for a little more than one year now working for many clients and it fixed all problem working as a freelancer.
That is the best advise I could give to you, if do not have much contact in game dev field
pirated 3ds max/photoshop/etc doesn’t matter for the app store and is impossible to detect in the app, however I would advise that you use a licensed version of Unity at the very least. If your business can afford licensed software it’s best to get it - in my country several rather important game dev companies (think STALKER) - were shut down/seriously hurt because they were busted for something as trivial as having a torrented version of 3ds max. As long as the build is published using a licensed version of unity you should be fine
Regarding pirated software. If you are using a reputable contractor, who makes assets/code/art for a living, then they should have legal software. Maybe add something to your contract that asks them to tick a box that says “I am using Unity free” or “I am using a legally purchased Unity Pro”. (Or similar for Max/Maya/Photoshop/whatever). A reputable contractor will have no problem ticking these boxes. Obviously someone dodgy will just tick the box they think you want to see, which does not prove that they have a legit version. If your game gets shut down, then at least you have something on paper that protects you. I’d go so far as to suggest that if someone is using pirated software, then they are likely to try to rip you off, or fail to deliver, or deliver something you can’t live with.
You can always ask your contractor to send you their order number for Unity, and ask the support team to confirm it’s a legit copy. Or ask them to do a manual activation and send you the license request file. Then send that to the support team and ask for comments. It’s surprising how many times a license is activated by a Mr Angus McBastard.
Do you really accept that clients can constantly peek into what you are doing? I don’t think that it is suited for creative (also programming) work where you pay for the outcome, not the time spent working on something.
Personally I’d find it disturbing if I knew I’m watched by automated screenshots.
