Games & Virtual Worlds

The market for computer and video games continues to expand, as do the boundaries of gaming.  Increasingly, game publishers are creating persistent, virtual worlds in which players seek to acquire virtual currency, align with friends and battle rivals, create and contribute their own content, and socially interact through written and voice chat.   For game developers and publishers, the creation and governance of these online universes raises a number of cutting edge legal issues.   Our attorneys understand that preserving a sustained, rich user experience goes beyond providing interesting content and incredible art, it also involves:  careful protection of intellectual property; refraining from the wrongful incorporation of other’s IP; and setting clear, understandable rules for the game in the form of End User License Agreements and Terms of Use that apportion rights in the game, game assets, and user-generated content in a manner that preserves the developer’s vision for the game.  Understanding how to protect and reserve rights between publishers, gamers and competitors is critical to enable the makers of games to enforce those rights successfully, whether in defense of lawsuits or regulatory inquiries challenging their practices, or in pursuing legal action against third-party wrongdoers like hack and cheat distributors, private server developers, RMT outfits, and intellectual property thieves.

ZwillGen attorneys have been engaged to advise a number of the most prominent names in the game industry in their most critical legal matters.   We have worked with both prominent industry names like the Entertainment Software Association, Blizzard Entertainment, Linden Labs, Square Enix, Disney and Zynga, and a number of smaller developers, including several in the fantasy sports gaming space.  For these and other game clients, our attorneys provide a full range of services, including:

• Developing and implementing comprehensive anti-fraud and anti-piracy programs;
• Bringing suit or taking creative non-traditional enforcement actions against hackers, cheats, in-game spammers, RMT sellers, and others who disrupt the game experience;
• Advising clients on EULAs, Terms of Use, and related contract issues;
• Defending clients in regulatory inquiries and suits, including class actions, by players raising challenges to game practices;
• Advising on the legality of game technologies including those related to marketing, behavioral advertising, cheat and fraud detection, chat monitoring and the like;
• Pursuing and defending claims concerning the misuse of IP;
• Advising clients on privacy, security and safety issues in connection with the operation of online worlds.