Game Development IP Ownership: What Your Contract Must Say

Written by Team Capermint · Method: we read the copyright statutes cited below (US, Canada, India, plus UK guidance), the Unity terms, Epic’s published Unreal Engine licensing FAQ, regulator guidance and the guides that rank for this topic. General information, not legal advice.

Shortlisting studios? Ask each one, including us, for an ownership schedule with its proposal. Capermint offers game development outsourcing as a fixed-scope project, a dedicated team or co-development. Request my project scope and we will set out what transfers to you, what stays licensed and how handover works.

Who owns the code under a game development contract?

Whoever the signed contract names. Without one, the law starts with the people who wrote it: under US, Canadian, Indian and UK copyright law the author, or the author’s employer, is generally the first owner. A studio’s developers are normally its employees, so the studio owns their code until it transfers it to you in a signed writing.

So who owns the source code while that transfer is missing? The studio, with you as a licensee at most. US law excludes a non-exclusive license from a “transfer of copyright ownership” (17 U.S.C. § 101), and a transfer is valid only in writing and signed by the owner (§ 204(a)).

In Effects Associates v. Cohen, a federal appeals court held that a producer who paid most of the price for commissioned footage, with no written transfer, had only an implied non-exclusive license.

Is a commissioned game a work for hire in the US?

Only partly. A commissioned work is a “work made for hire” if it fits one of nine statutory categories and both parties sign a written work-for-hire agreement saying so. Art, animation and music made “as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work” can qualify; standalone source code, which US law treats as a literary work, may not.

So US contracts pair work-for-hire wording with a present-tense assignment (“hereby assigns”) that catches everything else. The label lasts: an individual author’s assignment can be terminated in a five-year window opening 35 years after the grant (or, for grants covering publication, 35 years after publication or 40 after the grant, whichever ends earlier); a true work made for hire cannot (§ 203).

How do Canadian, Indian and UK rules differ?

None of them uses the US work-made-for-hire categories. The author, or the employer of an author working under a contract of employment, is generally the first owner, and copyright moves to you by a written assignment signed by the owner. India adds formalities and short defaults that apply whenever a contract is silent on scope.

In the UK, the creator or the creator’s employer is the first owner, not the commissioner, unless agreed otherwise in writing (UK IPO guidance). Name the governing law, make the assignment worldwide and for the full term, and list every platform and medium you plan to use.

What should an IP assignment clause cover?

It should transfer every bespoke deliverable to you, say exactly when the transfer happens and carve out only a listed set of studio tools. Use the seven clauses below as a checklist against any draft. A missing clause usually means the studio keeps that right by default, so raise gaps before you sign, not at handover.

1. Assignment of all deliverables. The studio “hereby assigns” all IP in code, art, audio, designs and builds made for the project: worldwide, full term, platforms and media named, effective as each milestone is paid, consideration stated, with work-for-hire wording for US-qualifying elements.

2. Pre-existing IP schedule and license. A named list of studio tools with a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use, modify and sublicense them in your game, updates, ports and sequels, transferable with the game and binding on any buyer of the studio.

3. Third-party, open-source and AI schedule. Every engine, plugin, store asset, font, SDK and library with its license and holder, plus AI tools used per asset; nothing new without your written approval.

4. Source delivery and audit. Code in a repository your company owns, or delivered each milestone, with build instructions, editable files and credentials, and your right to inspect contributor assignments.

5. Escrow or continuity access. Where the studio hosts the code or keeps a licensed base, an escrow deposit or access right if it stops trading or support ends.

6. Contributor chain and moral rights. A warranty that every employee, freelancer and subcontractor has assigned rights to the studio and waived, or agreed not to assert, moral rights where the law allows.

7. Non-reuse and confidentiality. No reuse of your bespoke code, art, characters or designs elsewhere; the studio keeps its general know-how and listed tools; portfolio use only as agreed.

Also check the non-infringement warranty and indemnity, return of confidential materials, and the governing law and forum. Our guide to the game development outsourcing contract covers the commercial side, from milestones to change control.

What if the studio is in another country?

Rely on possession first and enforcement second. Keep the repository, engine seats, store and developer accounts in your company’s name, so a dispute never blocks access to your game. Then pick a governing law and forum whose decision can be enforced where the studio operates, and ask your lawyer which suits your deal.

Arbitration is common in cross-border deals because the United States, Canada and India are all parties to the New York Convention on enforcing foreign arbitral awards.

Who owns what in a commissioned game?

You should end up owning everything made specifically for your game (the bespoke deliverables), while licensed components stay with their makers. A game is a bundle of separately owned rights, so the table maps each part’s default owner when the contract is silent and the term that moves it to you or secures your use.

Copyright protects expression, not ideas: US law excludes any “idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation” (§ 102(b)). Commissioning art on its own? The same rules apply to concept art, models and animation bought through game art outsourcing.

What is pre-existing IP and how is it licensed?

Pre-existing IP, or background IP, is code, tools or assets the studio owned before your project or built independently, such as a multiplayer framework or level editor. The studio keeps ownership and licenses it to you inside your game, so the license scope decides how freely you can update, port or sell the game later.

Reject a definition covering anything the studio “uses in other projects”. Studios have a fair reason to keep background IP, since proven tools speed delivery, and a broad license gives you the same practical freedom.

How do engine and asset-store licenses affect ownership?

They limit what can be transferred. You can own your game’s code and art, but never the engine or store assets inside it: Unity, Epic and asset marketplaces license them under their own terms. Those licenses should sit with your company, or the studio cannot hand over everything you need to keep developing.

• Unity: the editor is licensed per seat, non-exclusive and non-transferable, with no other right granted (Unity Software Additional Terms, ss. 2.1, 2.8, 2.12). Budget for your own seats.
• Unreal Engine: licensed under Epic’s EULA, with a royalty above a revenue threshold, so the party releasing the game should hold the license.
• Unity Asset Store: assets are licensed to the buying end user and non-transferable; your company needs its own license even if a contractor had one, unless a multi-entity tier covers contractors (Asset Store EULA, ss. 1.3, 2.2.1, 2.3.1, 2.4).
• Open source: permissive licenses such as MIT and Apache 2.0 mainly require notices; copyleft licenses such as the GNU GPL require source access for recipients when you distribute object code.
• App stores: Apple’s app transfer leaves items such as Game Center matchmaking settings and Apple Pay merchant IDs behind, and Google Play transfers need approval and review. Publish under your own account.

Licenses need re-checking when a game moves platform; our game porting services page lists the engine and platform costs outside a porting quote.

Can the studio reuse my game’s code in other projects?

Only what the contract lets it keep. If bespoke code and art are assigned to you, the studio cannot reuse them without your permission. It can still reuse its listed pre-existing tools and the general know-how its people carry, so the contract should define bespoke deliverables precisely and list what the studio keeps.

The gray area is tool improvements made during your project. A workable split: the studio owns the improved tool, you get the same license, and features you paid for stay exclusive to you for an agreed period.

How does ownership differ by engagement model?

The legal rule is the same in every model, but where the code lives and who directs the work change the risks. In a dedicated team or staff augmentation, developers work in your tools yet remain the studio’s employees, so you still need the studio’s written assignment for everything they produce for you.

If you hire dedicated game developers, assign each month’s work product. In co-development, US law makes joint authors co-owners (§ 201(a)), so assign both sides’ game work to the company that will hold the IP.

Do I need a source-code escrow?

Usually not if the code lives in a repository your company owns and you receive source at each milestone. Escrow earns its fee when the studio hosts the code, the game is business-critical, or a licensed platform base stays with the vendor, as with white-label and turnkey iGaming platforms whose base components remain licensed.

A good escrow covers four terms: a deposit of full source, build scripts, toolchain versions and the third-party list, refreshed each milestone; release triggers such as insolvency, ceasing business or failure to support; verification that the deposit builds; and use rights to maintain and port the game. A bingo software agreement filed with the US SEC required deposits at least every two weeks.

Does owning all the IP change the price?

Usually, at the start. A licensed base, such as a white-label or turnkey platform, spreads its build cost across clients, so it is cheaper and faster, but you license rather than own the core. A custom build is priced as new work, and its bespoke source can transfer to you. Typical ranges, in USD:

Final quotes follow a scoping call. For what drives a budget, see our breakdown of game development cost.

How does ownership move to you on a milestone project?

Step by step, as you pay. On a fixed-scope project, a clean structure assigns each milestone’s deliverables when that milestone is paid, hands over the matching source at the same time and licenses the studio’s listed tools for all paid work from the first milestone. Designed this way, you do not pay for work you cannot hold.

Illustrative example (not a client case or a quote): a publisher commissions a mid-scope multiplayer game, typical range $40K–$120K, in four milestones.

If work stops after milestone 2, you own the paid bespoke work and hold its source; with the tools license in place and seats and assets in your name, another team can continue. Request my project scope and name this structure in your brief.

What changes for iGaming and real-money games?

Ownership also shapes who needs a license. Operators hold their operating licenses, and in regulated markets the company that owns, controls or supplies the game can need its own supplier license or registration. Capermint builds to the technical requirements of the target jurisdiction for the licensed party and holds no gaming license itself.

• Great Britain: under the Gambling Commission’s gambling software guidance, if the supplier controls the design, it needs the gambling software license; if you buy time and skills and control design, you do. The IP it weighs is the game’s functionality, not branding. A separate IP-holding company may need its own license unless an “umbrella” license applies, as does the final supplier to a licensed operator (Gambling Act 2005, s. 41).
• Ontario: suppliers that develop, provide or run games and game systems for iGaming operators must be registered with the AGCO.
• United States: real-money gaming is legalized and licensed state by state, within federal law (Murphy v. NCAA, for sports betting); New Jersey requires gaming-related enterprises to be licensed by its Division of Gaming Enforcement.
• India: online money games are prohibited under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025; there, Capermint builds free-to-play, social and e-sports formats only.
• RNG and platform: Capermint builds RNG and game math ready for testing by accredited labs such as GLI, iTech Labs or BMM; certification is obtained by the operator or game owner (see RNG certification). With a hosted white label casino software platform you usually license the code; our guide to iGaming business models compares the routes.

Building a licensed casino or sportsbook platform? Our iGaming software development proposals list which components transfer to you and which stay licensed.

What if my current contract has no IP assignment?

Usually it can be fixed with a signed confirmatory assignment from the studio, and from any freelancers, covering work already delivered, plus a handover of source and accounts. Do it before fundraising, a publisher deal or switching studios, because investors, publishers and acquirers check chain of title: a signed assignment for every contributor.

Red flags to fix in any contract:

• “License” or “right to use” where bespoke work should be “assigned”.
• Transfer only at final payment, with no source access or escrow until then.
• No pre-existing IP schedule, a tools license that ends with the contract, or no change-of-control term.
• Accounts, seats or store assets in the studio’s name.
• No mention of subcontractors, freelancers or AI-generated assets.

In return, studios reasonably ask for transfer tied to payment, ownership of their tools, a warranty limited to what they control and portfolio use after launch.

How does Capermint handle code and IP ownership?

Capermint documents ownership in an ownership schedule within the proposal and contract, before work starts. For custom builds, its published position is that bespoke source code and agreed deliverables can transfer to the client at delivery, while third-party, open-source and reusable platform components carry their own licenses.

“For custom development, the contract can transfer the bespoke source code, database schema, documentation, and agreed infrastructure code to the client at delivery. Turnkey, white-label, third-party, and open-source components may carry separate licences. The ownership schedule is documented in the proposal and contract.”

Capermint’s answer to “Do I own the source code?” on its iGaming software development page.

Third-party and base-platform licences are documented before work begins, with no hidden revenue-share clause, and an NDA is available before detailed discovery. Want ownership to move per milestone, or the repository in your name from day one? Ask in the scoping call; the ownership schedule records what we agree.

Capermint Technologies Pvt Ltd was founded in 2014 in Ahmedabad, India, and delivers from there, so check the Indian assignment rules above. Capermint reports 650+ customers worldwide and schedules calls in US and Canadian business hours; see our games portfolio.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and method

Claims were checked against these primary sources; prices are Capermint’s typical USD ranges.

• US Copyright Act, Title 17; Effects Associates v. Cohen, 908 F.2d 555 (9th Cir.); US Copyright Office AI report, Part 2
• Copyright Act (Canada); Copyright Act, 1957 (India) and s. 57; UK IPO ownership guidance
• Unity Software Additional Terms; Unity Asset Store EULA; Unreal Engine EULA
• UK Gambling Commission; AGCO; New York Convention