It may not be such a bad thing that we can't enter Activision's new indie game dev competition over here in NZ (it's only open to US residents). Over on Wolfire's blog, Jeff highlights some of the worrying aspects of the competition rules.
Should indie competitions be used as stalking grounds for publishers looking to brandish exclusivity and first right of refusal over the usually quite open and unfettered indie field?
No one can begrudge a publisher the right to do what they want if they're open about it - but some feel that Activision are jumping on the indie bandwagon with a decidedly non-indie offering and trying to ride in on a trojan horse that looks like the mainstream comps we're used to but contains a belly full of legal assassins waiting to stake their claim on your gold! And after the Infinity Ward fiasco does anyone trust Activision anymore...?
If you could, would you enter it?
Comments
Activision only cares about the money as they've demonstrated with the Infinity Ward drama. Same goes with Ubisoft and their crazy DRM schemes. I avoid anything by these two publishers now.
Yeah, I looked at the T&Cs and figured that the legal department got to it first. (In my experience, I blame the legal teams of US multinationals more than I blame the PR teams).
Overall, they're asking Indie devs to fit Activisions' needs (business plan, release dates - for a game that ain't been funded yet) rather than moving themselves to the Indie scene. Gamer culture FAIL on Activision's part (which could explain Infinity Ward too).
There are alternative contests out there (like this one) that are less restrictive, but I say the more the merrier. Having Activision behind your creation would be very useful, even if you don't make much money and they corrupt your dream into something horrific. It would at least be a learning experience that would definitely open doors.
lol, I had the exact same idea, but Erik beat me to it.