Hello,
Does anyone know how to get car company licences for your game?
And if it is possible to just use the car models,if not.
Contact the car manufacturer directly, make an inquiry.
I wouldn’t recommend it. Technically you could, but be prepared for the lawsuits that may follow.
I mean I would focus on making a good game first. Then the game would have to be very popular and making money to even raise their attention. By then you will be in a better position to handle it. Why spend that kind of money when your not
even out there yet.
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Not a good idea, if the game took off they could definitely cause you problems. I would suppose just replacing all emblems and lettering that uses the actual names from your models, and maybe add some extra flare to the appearance to make them slightly different looking than the real thing (think GTA series, “banshee” = dodge viper) and that way you avoid the trouble of contacting the manufacturer and can still have that look. Problem is in racing games players do sort of expect legit real cars, and those are always licensed. I wouldn’t be able to tell you how to go about doing that!
EDIT: and you don’t want to wait til post-release to start getting permission from the manufacturer if the game does well. If you hype the game, and people seem to like it, and you think it is going to do well on launch, definitely go the extra mile and seek out those licenses - however I can’t imagine everyone lets you use their vehicles likeness’s for free… who knows though maybe some manufacturers just require you to slap an endorsement in the credits or a disclaimer at the splash screens saying “blah blah is a product of blah blah inc”.
I see well what about this?
http://gamasutra.com/view/news/191864/EA_doesnt_want_to_pay_gun_manufacturers_anymore.php
Yes, and add more into the game, more interesting mechanics.
That EA link you posted is interesting. I always considered EA a kind of… less legal company… they have a history of trying to stick it to the man I guess, like back in their early days with Nintendo and Sega controversies over licensing and such.
Anyway don’t do what they do - they can take that risk because they have millions of dollars to throw at lawyers and try to avoid paying licenses for those weapons long term. But for a racing game (where cars are the “stars” of the game) it is really critical to tread lightly on copyright of the likeness of real vehicles. I am no pro in this area I just suggest not using legit cars if you can avoid it, because it is always better safe than… sued the crap out of! lol
Anyway if you use original (even if strikingly similar to real) models of cars, and avoid real emblems, and real names to call those vehicles, you will be fine.
Good luck!
Get permission from the car manufacturer, signed and in writing.
From what I’ve read, some manufacturers have specific rules for using their vehicles in games.
They might also want to take a look at other games you’ve made to get an idea of quality. If you haven’t made any games before they might not give you permission.
Big names have big lawyers. Don’t trust them. Do things GTA style, and rename/rebrand everything (and alter the shape a bit).
This is old one but rather than create new I’ll try to revive it
What do you think about “cartoonish cars” representation?
Like this one randomCar
Of course without mentioning their actual names
It probably would have been better to create a new thread than to revive one so old.
The car looks great but you copied their grill very closely. That on it’s own, will almost certainly get you in trouble. If you closely copy a signature feature of a car, it likely doesn’t matter how much you change the rest of it.
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GoesTo11 thank you
Yeah, indeed maybe wrong example
How about this one?
Actually this is from asset store, guess should be alright?
Thanks
0fd87559642a41b7a7924876ad3e9399
I am not a lawyer but, in my opinion, it is not alright. Although it is “cartoonish”, it is still a classic 911. The body, headlights, front bumper, hood, rear wing all look directly taken from a 911. Nothing in the model would look out of place on a 911. I think you need to have significant differences from the design of real cars. Maybe a general body shape that looks like a 911 but more smoothed out and then add something that would look distinctly out of place on a 911.
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yeah man but i doubt that nfs no limits is actualy licenced i mean toyota is in it and it took of on the mobile but still none gives a damn about a mobile game so i think if you limit yourself to that you should be fine
(yes no limits is a free to play game but it still makes some cash by ads or somewhat pay to win content where if you don’t want to wait for the fuel to recharge you pay for it)
Yeah this would be a no-go from a legal standpoint. That is a clearly recognizable Porsche 911. I worked on two Need for Speed titles and I do remember that EA paid heavy fees to license rights to those vehicles. The rights holders are very proactive in pursuing any damages to their brand, etc. Ironically they mostly pursue products based on associative representation of their own marks and brands. They cannot have their marks or brands appear to be an endorsement of someone they have no legal relationship with. The down and dirty of it is this: If your game is not high profile and successful you have a very small chance of these rights owners pursuing you legally. However if your game does become successful and has a large user base, thus making it high profile, you stand a very high likelihood of being contracted by a lawyer and served legal papers on the matter. So you stand to lose a lot in the scenario you have success, and you stand to lose very little if your game is not successful. Which do you believe will be the case?
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I would say GTA have had cars pretty similar to the orginal cars. For example Comet in Vice city is pretty close to a 911 Targa
Stay away from logos etc
edit: GTA V counterpart
Now, look at the posting dates.
Don’t be foolish. NFS: No Limits is published by EA, who most certainly licenses everything because the alternative would be them, a high profile publisher, getting demolished in court.
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Sarcasm?
https://www.engadget.com/2013-08-16-ea-settles-battlefield-3-and-textron-helicopter-lawsuit.html
The fair use policies surrounding military aircraft are kinda a wildly different situation that has been having its own thing going on.