Questions tagged [video-games]
The video-games tag has no usage guidance.
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Is it legal for Blizzard to completely shut down Overwatch 1 in order to replace it with Overwatch 2?
Overwatch (1) was a multiplayer first-person shooter video game created by Blizzard. It was released in 2016 and cost around 40€.
Earlier this year, Overwatch 1 was shut down:
The servers are down.
...
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Can disrupting an online video game be illegal?
Imagine for example, a person makes an online game unplayable by flooding the game with bot accounts, winning games through cheating etc, but the person doesn't steal any data and they aren't ...
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How the rights of the DotA map could be transferred to Valve?
Dota (Defense of the Ancients), was a Warcraft 3 custom map that got the rights transferred to Valve in 2010 when two of their developers (Eul and IceFrog) were hired by Valve. However, Warcraft 3's ...
user47165
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Is distributing software that makes modifications to video games legal?
Unlike most game mods (which are, to my knowledge, a distribution of a copy of modified game software), I'm writing a small desktop application which allows users to make their own custom changes (...
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Do I have any legal options if a game is released with the same name as one I already publicly have under development?
I have had a game in development since October 2020. There is an audit trail in the form of public GitHub code commits showing how long I have been using the name. Unfortunately I had not yet done any ...
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Would it be legal to avoid Unity (Game Engine) licensing by having the end-user build the project
Is it legal (assuming US) if instead of paying for a proprietary software and accepting their terms and conditions for distribution, to require the user to own this proprietary software and use it as ...
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When does a videogame become a gacha game?
Recently I have been observing a lot of gaming companies pushing contents in their games that to my understanding should meet the definition of gacha. Yet, for some reason those games manage to avoid ...
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What are the legal issues when using copyrighted images to advertise a product that doesn't contain them?
I was on YouTube a couple of days ago watching a video that looked at mobile game advertisements and whether or not they were reflective of the product.
To give an example, one game used online ads of ...
anon
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1
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When does a retail flight simulator, or racing game, need to license aircraft or vehicles from their manufacturers?
Supposing someone (whether an individual, small company like an indie game studio, or large game publisher with an established legal department (EA, Microsoft, etc)) wants to make a flight simulator ...
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What makes you the legal owner of a computer game (copy)?
I bought a lot of used old computer games to create a collection. Some games consist of:
The physical game disc (CD or DVD)
(sometimes) a product key which is printed onto the manual or the disc case
...
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It is illegal to make a "demake" of a video game?
Let's say about a "demake" of Artifact (Valve's card game).
The new game would be a "generic" Artifact that doesn't use the lore, characters, and other protected things, but uses ...
user47165
3
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To what extent is it legal for a video game to use assets of another game the user needs to have installed?
What if someone were to make a new game that can only be installed if you own a copy of "another game".
This game itself doesn't modify any files or use any DLL but only textures and models.
...
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1
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456
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Is it legal to create a website acting as middleman for transactions between game items and real life cash?
Knowing the ToS and EULA of the game prohibit one of selling his game items for real life money transactions, my question is, is it legal to create a website to act as the middleman for these ...
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Is Blizzard in violation of REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 for not letting users change their account real name?
When a player creates an account in battle.net Blizzard asks for your real name but many players registered when they were stupid little brats and wrote some pretty dumb things. The problem is that ...
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How illegal would it be to use fictional locations, companies, etc. from a video game in a different video game?
Let's say I wanted to create a knock-off GTA-esqe game.
If I wanted to use locations like Los Santos, San Andreas, Blaine County, Paleto Bay, etc. would there be any IP concerns?
If I wanted to use ...
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It is legal for PC video game retailers to sell games without ESRB ratings?
One major example of this is Steam. While most games on Steam have ESRB ratings, some not (such as Valve's own Dota 2).
Is this considered legal?
user47165
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How to legally publish a NES/Famicom ROM wrapped in an emulator app for another platform?
Let's say I want to publish a NES game and I've written the game and it's in .nes ROM format (I haven't, but let's pretend hypothetically). And I want this software to run on modern platforms like iOS ...
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Are fan games legal?
"Fan games" are video games made by fans using a popular intellectual property, without license. Are they protected by "fair use" or are the IP holders just allowing it?
user51647
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Question concerning the legality of Software Patents
I have a question concering the public reveal of new patents filed by Nintendo Co., Ltd., and how such patents are legal given how general the concepts are, and how this would effect development of ...
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It is illegal to reverse engineer proprietary file formats?
The file formats MPQ and CASC are two container formats developed by Blizzard in 1996 and 2014 respectively. Both formats are proprietary and there's no official specification. If these formats are ...
user44968
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Is it legal to use minecraft and minecraft mods in a for profit video?
Is it legal to make youtube videos about historical events using minecraft and minecraft mods? How to ensure the rule of fair-use is fulfilled when using these games and fan-made contents?
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The GDPR and how it treats online game character names
I am writing a MUD server - a multiplayer game where people connect and create characters.
I am unsure if the GDPR applies to me - offering a game to the public is not a household task, but I am also ...
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What can be re-used when creating a video game like World of Warcraft?
When creating a such game, what can be reused from WoW? I know that the character classes, resource types, and generic races can be borrowed, but not the characters, lore, specific races and ability ...
user44968
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How exactly are video game patents granted?
I've been reading up on this and its all still a bit confusing. I read among us could have gotten there game mode patented but didn't. But on the other hand the Battle Royale genre can not be ...
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Can I use the name "Guybrush" in a videogame I create?
As the question states. Can I use the name Guybrush for a character in my upcoming videogame?
Also does it make any difference if this name is used for my main character or just some side character ...
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It is legal to create a video game featuring "murlocs"?
In the Warcraft universe, "murlocs" are fish-like living creatures that usually have a green or blue skin. It is legal to create a game featuring "murlocs" outside of Warcraft? (...
user44968
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Copyrighted Music, Personal Use, and not-for-profit Video Games?
I am creating a video game that is open-source and will be distributed for free (i.e. not-for-profit) on itch.io.
I would like to use a copyrighted song as part of the background music.
My question is,...
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How to put a disclaimer about IP in an open source fangame? [closed]
I am creating a fangame. Specifically a game where you can open weapon cases from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive for free and collect or trade skins that you obtain. The entire game source is my own ...
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Can video game fonts (or other least protectable content) be recreated without breaching a contract?
For instance Valve has a policy that recreating fonts/typefaces from their games (that are not protected by copyright) is a breach of the Steam Subscriber Agreement (SSA). But as far as I know the SSA ...
user48480