I want to join gamedev #45 — “Game lawyer profession”
Hi all! The podcast “I want to join gamedev” is in touch, and today we are talking about the profession of a gaming lawyer: how they get into it and what they do there.
The profession of a gaming lawyer is not only conditional “paperwork” and routine with the registration of the lease of premises. Now gaming lawyers have great opportunities for development: these are investment processes, gaming-related courts, and intellectual property.
The podcast was hosted by the permanent hosts: Vyacheslav UtochkinDeputy Director of the Center for Competence Development in Business Informatics, Higher School of Business HSE, and Konstantin Sakhnovgame producer.
The participants of the issue were:
– Sergey LidovskyIT-lawyer, teacher of copyright and contract law on the program “Management of game projects”;
– Evgeny AkievGame Lawyer at Geeky House, Game Project Management graduate;
– Philip Mishchenkodirector of business development at Artstorm FZE, former head of the legal department at Last Level
What were the podcast members talking about this time? In the post, we suggest reading a more or less brief retelling of the podcast.
How did you get into the legal direction of the gaming industry?
Answered by Philip Mishchenko: a lawyer is my main profession, I had a completed education, but somehow I wanted to associate myself with something related to art. At first I chose a specialty in copyright – in order to be closer to the cinema, I was very fond of filming and even filmed something myself. And in 2015, he ended up in the gaming industry as a legal consultant. I love games too.
Answered by Evgeny Akiev: after graduating from the Faculty of Law, I worked for 8 years in the civil service, then went into consulting. He loved games since childhood, and at these jobs he was the only person who was fond of computer games as a hobby. And then a good friend of mine advised me to try to get an interview at Geeky House, besides, at that time I applied for the Game Project Management program. I went through the program, I liked it very much, and now I am an in-house lawyer in the company. Now I think that I am in the right place.
Answered by Sergey Lidovsky: I’ve been in game development since 2010, I worked in an IT-territory company, which later became Mail.ru Games, and now it’s VK. I also worked at Gaijin Entertainment for over 5 years. Now I am engaged in private gaming projects and combine this with the work of a lawyer in a company that develops gambling games.
What should a person who wants to become a gaming lawyer know and be able to do?
Answered by Philip Mishchenko: First of all, knowledge of the fourth part of the Civil Code is important, that is, at least a lawyer must understand intellectual property issues. Also, of course, work experience, participation in specialized conferences or legal kitchens, when specific cases are analyzed, is important.
The passion for the object is also important – if a person likes law, but does not like games, he should probably choose another specialty. In addition, knowledge of English is very important.
At the interview, first of all, I will ask about experience: what I did, what tasks I performed. After all, some paralegals are engaged, for example, in scanning documents and, in fact, perform the functions of a courier. I will also ask the candidate about his gaming experience. Also, I give three part test.
Answered by Sergey Lidovsky: For a lawyer, hard skills are 60-70 percent of success. This is knowledge of regulations, current trends in judicial practice, it is also desirable to understand how legislation can change (this can be tracked by bills).
But in addition to hard skills, there are also soft skills – including the ability to sensibly assess risks, be very proactive, about business and about money. It happens that some lawyers create obstacles for business development.
What are the salaries of gaming lawyers?
Answered by Philip Mishchenko: for novice lawyers, the starting salary can be around 50 thousand rubles per hand, then with an increase of 150-200 thousand rubles, I think it may well come out.
Answered by Sergey Lidovsky: everything is very individual, depending on the company and people, but I agree that novice lawyers get 50-70 thousand rubles, 200-250 thousand, and maybe even 300 thousand rubles can be received depending on experience, skills and company.
You can listen to the episode in its entirety and understand the intricacies of the work of a gaming lawyer, and, perhaps, try yourself in this complex and interesting area (timing and a bunch of useful links in the description) at:
Youtube, In contact with, Yandex.Music, cast box, Google Podcasts
Podcast site with information about all episodes: http://podcast.hsbi.ru/
Happy listening! 🙂
Interested in the gaming industry? Come to the online game design festival! Experts will tell you how the Russian industry has changed in 15 years, what the future holds for it, and what it has to learn now. The event will take place on October 22 in Zoom with a broadcast on YouTube, you can learn more and register here.
And if you want to not only hear about games, but also create them – come to study at the program “Game project management“. In 9 months, you will go through the entire cycle of game development, communicate with experienced game dev experts and gain practical knowledge on how to develop, launch and effectively operate your game. If you are interested in this program, come hear the details about it at the Open Day on October 27! Learn more about the Open Day and register here. here.
