Level Up.pdf

Writing for Licenses
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developer, which means that a fee is paid to use the property for a game
(or several games). The group who owns the original property is called the
licensor. Licensors are groups like Lucasfilm, DC Comics, J.K. Rowling
or Nickelodeon (to use examples from above). However, just because the
licensee has paid to make a game using the character, that doesn ’ t mean
they can make any game they want. A licensee has to work with the licensor
to adhere to the brand. For example, a licensor may not want their character
to kill enemies. Therefore, the developer has to design their game around
these “ brand limitations. ” Some properties are pretty lenient to what
developers can do with their properties, while others are very strictly
moderated.
Don ’ t dismay about having to stay within the confines of a license. With a
good licensing partner, you can design a game that allows room for
creativity. For example, I was working on a licensed game that had seen
over 10 games previously based on it. Not looking forward to making just
“ another installment ” of the property, we talked with the licensor about
making the game in a genre that wasn ’ t just a standard platformer. After
we made our pitch, the licensor confessed that they were tired of creating
the same style of game over and over, but had never considered taking
the gameplay in another direction. The licensor gave us a lot more freedom
than we had previously thought we had and, in the end, we produced a
solid game. Just because you are working on a licensed game, don ’ t
assume that you are locked in to the “ same old, same old. ” It never
hurts to ask.
Here are a few tips I ’ ve picked up from working on licensed games:
• Find out about the license inside and out. Read, watch, play everything
you can on it. Go deep whenever possible. If you go in directions that
aren ’ t obvious or use characters that are more obscure, the fans of the
brand will appreciate it. Every licensed game should be a celebration of
the license and a big “ thank you ” to the fans.
• Uncover the “ big issues ” early. Talk to your licensor and find out what
the big “ no no ” issues are. Doing this will save you a lot of headaches
and prevent you from making resources that will have to be changed later
in production. For example, one game used hamburgers as a power- up.
When the character ate them, he became invulnerable. However, even
though it was never mentioned in any of the license ’ s episodes, one of
the main characters (one that was a playable character in our game)
was a vegetarian. We had to change the power- up because the show ’ s
creators didn ’ t like that we had their character “ eating meat. ”
• Get as much material as possible from the licensor. Television shows
have “ bibles ” — detailed documents that outline the show characters and
worlds. Established comic books have years of back issues that make