Video games law

The games industry is one of the largest creative sectors in the world, with revenue models and forms of distribution that develop faster than the legislation that applies to them. A modern game is at once software, an audiovisual work, a brand, a platform and a service. Each of those layers is governed by a different legal regime, and in practice these constantly interact.

Liaise assists game and platform companies across the full breadth of that field: from developers and publishers to esports organisations, streamers and suppliers. The term gaming law is often used as a synonym; it refers to the same body of legal questions around games and the games industry.

Looking for a gaming lawyer, or do you need advice straight away? Call 020 675 88 21.

What video games law is about

Video games law is not a self-contained area of law with its own statute, but the intersection of copyright, related rights, trade mark and design law, contract law, consumer law, data protection and, where in-game economies contain gambling elements, gambling law. The common thread is always the same question: who holds the rights to which part, how are those rights ordered and exploited by contract, and which public-law rules limit the revenue model?

What we help you with

Intellectual property in games
A game has no single copyright status. The source code is protected as a work within the meaning of the Copyright Act and also falls under the specific regime for computer programs. The visual elements, the characters, the music, the dialogue and the narrative design each enjoy separate copyright protection, and the audiovisual output may qualify as a film work with the accompanying rules on authorship and assignment. For the gameplay mechanics this is more difficult, because rules of play and abstract concepts are in principle not protected; the protection lies in the concrete elaboration, not in the idea. That layering makes the chain of rights vulnerable. We order the chain of rights, review existing deeds of assignment and licences, and advise on protecting the title, logo and visual identity through trade mark and design law.

Contracts in the development and publishing chain
The commercial reality of a game is determined by the contracts around it. Publishing deals turn on the division of exploitation rights, royalty structures, recoupment, platform and territory boundaries, milestone payments and control over sequels and derivative exploitation. With work-for-hire and co-development, the question is whether rights actually pass or are only licensed, and on what conditions. The underlying revenue model determines the contractual architecture: a free-to-play title with microtransactions makes different demands than a premium release, a subscription model or a games-as-a-service construction with ongoing content updates. We draw up these agreements, negotiate them and review the contracts offered by publishers and platforms on the points where studios usually give up the most.

In-game purchases, loot boxes and gambling law
Few subjects in video games law are legally as fluid as the classification of loot boxes and comparable chance mechanics. For years the Netherlands Gambling Authority took the position that a loot box amounts to a prohibited game of chance where its contents are determined by chance and those contents represent an economic value because they are tradeable. On that basis the regulator imposed an order subject to a penalty payment on Electronic Arts for the packs in FIFA. On appeal to the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State, EA was ultimately proved right (judgment of 9 March 2022, ECLI:NL:RVS:2022:690). The highest administrative court held that obtaining and opening the packs is not in itself a game. It forms part of FIFA Ultimate Team, which counts as a mixed game of skill, and adds at most an element of chance to it. A loot box is therefore not automatically a licensable game of chance in the Netherlands; the classification depends on the concrete set-up, in particular the extent to which the mechanism stands apart from the game and the extent to which the contents are externally tradeable. The subject has thus not crystallised: the debate has partly shifted to consumer law, where the ACM supervises along the lines of unfair commercial practices and transparency requirements, and to the protection of minors. For developers who build in chance mechanics, in-game currency or tradeable items, a legal check when designing the revenue model is wiser than a correction afterwards.

Terms of use, EULAs and the relationship with players
The relationship between provider and player is governed by terms of use and a EULA. Those documents regulate the licence to the game, the handling of user-generated content, moderation and account termination, the status of virtual goods and the allocation of liability. They must not only be legally watertight but also enforceable against consumers: clauses that qualify as unreasonably onerous do not hold up, and unclear or one-sided terms are interpreted against the party that drafted them. In cross-border exploitation there are also questions of choice of law, choice of forum and the mandatory consumer protection of the member state where the player lives.

Consumer law and the protection of underage players
Digital purchases within a game fall under the consumer law rules on the supply of digital content. That brings information obligations about price, and limits around the right of withdrawal for immediate digital delivery. Where a game is also aimed at minors, stricter requirements apply. That touches on the validity of transactions carried out by children, on the transparency of chance mechanics and in-game currency, and on design choices that can be regarded as misleading or unnecessarily addictive. We advise on the design of purchase flows, age verification and the way in which odds and costs are made transparent.

Privacy and data protection
Almost every online game processes personal data: account information, payment details, playing behaviour, communication between players and, with targeted advertising, behavioural profiles. The GDPR therefore applies in full, with particular attention to the processing of children’s data, to consent and legal basis for profiling and personalised offers, and to the relationship between studio, publisher and platform when it comes to controller and processor responsibility. We draw up the necessary data processing agreements and privacy documentation and advise on data flows within international distribution chains.

Esports, streamers and influencers
Around the game, a distinct economy of esports competitions, streamers and influencers has grown up, with its own contract questions. Think of player contracts and their classification under employment law or as a contract for services, of prize money and sponsorship arrangements, and of the rights of organisers in competitions and broadcasts. For streamers and influencers there are also advertising law questions: the duty to make commercial content recognisable, the scope of sponsorship agreements and the use of game content under the rights holder’s terms. We assist both the companies and the creative parties on either side of those agreements.

AI in the games industry
Generative AI affects the games industry on several fronts at once: in generating assets, dialogue and levels, in procedurally generated content and in the use of AI tools in the development pipeline. This raises questions about the copyright authorship of AI-generated material, about the origin and licensing status of training data, about liability for generated output and about the transparency obligations arising from the AI Act. We advise studios on the responsible use of AI in creating new work and on contractual cover towards suppliers and customers.

A video games lawyer who knows the practice

Liaise is based in Amsterdam and works for game and platform companies throughout the Netherlands, from start-up and indie developer to international publisher. You have a single point of contact who knows the sector and understands how a game works commercially. Because legal advice that is right on paper but does not fit the revenue model and the reality of development does not get you anywhere.

Do you have a question about a game contract, your IP position or a revenue model? Get in touch and you will have a reply within one working day.