I wouldnt mind teamates or anything but how would I make sure they wont share my idea or game with other? is there a way to keep them silent such as a contract and if so how would i write that?
I’ts called a NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)
There are many templates for this document on the internet. Just google NDA template
Would a good place to start be Rocket Lawyer (Free Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA): Make & Sign - Rocket Lawyer)?
I also was wondering what the diffrence of a confidentiality agreement and NDA?? they sound similar i think.
Your ideas may seem important to you, but they cannot be protected. Ideas are free.
You can legally protect implementations of ideas though.
My advice is not to worry. So what if your teammates chat about your fps idea? That’s good free publicity right there. Until you have something to steal, worry about building it. Afterwards people will share and “steal” your finished game. But they most probably were not going to buy it anyhow. That gives you more time to worry about the people who do buy your game.
confidentiality agreements are usually imposed by employers, most often by those companies that engage in highly competitive and/or highly innovative types of work. IT Consultants usually sign several for each employer (at least one for their company and often for sensitive clients). NDA is a general agreement not to disclose non-public information related to a specific piece of work, like a project, or for extensive collaboration where neither party actually works for the other.
Now, that out of the way, I’ll give you the 3 pieces of advice I give everyone who starts down this road,
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In the US, and several other legal systems, NDA is a formality, any non-public information passed that is clearly identified as confidential is assumed to be the legal property of the creator, and disclosure without written permission is subject to the same civil prosecution as an NDA (or confidentiality agreement for that matter).
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all those agreements are worthless when information becomes public
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As with all civil law, the effectiveness of any such agreements comes down to the ability to pursue and prosecute. If you can’t afford a lawyer (and aren’t one), then you are likely only doing this for your own peace of mind, not any tangible result
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given that game development takes anywhere from weeks (if you’re mika mobile) to years (if you’re a big studio), usually at great expense, as in up to millions, and even if you and 12 other people took your idea and built a game it’s very likely you’d end up with 13 different games anyway, and, last but not least, if you do actually make a popular game it will likely be cloned to death (please refer to the afore mentioned Mika mobile)… you’re probably wasting your time worrying over nothing.
But hey, in game development… paranoia isn’t a game, its a sport … so have at it
Cheers,
Galen
PS. yes I’m aware that I said I’d give you 3 pieces of advice, then listed 4. Call it ‘baiting the troll hook’ if you will, but I’ve got a fresh bag of popcorn and that sort of little thing seems to drive some people in these forums nuts. Feel free to watch the show My apologies to Andeeee in advance (there’s nothing on tv tonight
).
you cannot protect the idea but you can make sure your team doesnt take off with it to share with another team by having them sign the agreement so that they can share the information ( until we are ready ). If you were to have a very good idea and someone took it and had the resources to produce the game faster than you and release before you you would just become a copy cat in the eyes of the public and loose possible customers.
They do this with closed beta’s for example so that it gets tested but nothing is shared with the public. It may not completely protect you but it will increase the odds of it working.
if anything it would make a destroyable barrier keeping them at bay (all talk no fight) so they could but hopefully it deters action =/