While it might be miles away from the cost of triple-A game development, indie game development can still be more expensive than many people realize. Even when a small group or an individual is willing to work for very little, there are costs that can’t be avoided: certification (required to release games — or critical updates — on certain platforms), translations (of things like store text for PlayStation Mobile releases), and legal fees. Legal fees can be a real problem for some, as they can inflate the cost of development or pull away funds that could go toward bettering the game. It’s a seemingly unavoidable problem given the way the legal system works and how much lawyers charge for their services.
An ongoing crowdfunding campaign that comes to an end tonight seeks to alleviate that pressure from indie developers. New Media Rights is a non-profit program that, among other things, provides legal services to independent game developers free of charge. As its Indiegogo funding page explains, these are services that can cost $300-$500 per hour if a standard lawyer were consulted. As you’d expect, getting that same kind of help for free can be a major boon for these developers, who are able to work with New Media Rights’ experts one-on-one; these aren’t nonspecific, group seminars NMR offers.
