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By Tom Buscaglia
[Author's Bio]
with Chris Bennett
[Author's Bio]
and Dave Spratley
[Author's Bio]

Gamasutra
January 12, 2007

Call Of Duty: Finest Hour - The Contract

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Call Of Duty: Finest Hour - The Contract


Tom: The delay in acceptance by Activision beyond 15 days automatically extends all delivery deadlines.  Once Spark is notified of the deficiencies in the deliverable Spark has no more than 10 days to correct them (6.2).  This procedure iterates until either the deliverable is accepted or, at its option, Activision can cancel the contract with Spark and have another developer complete the milestone or assign the Game to another developer and deduct that developer’s fees from the payments due Spark (6.3).  

Activision retains final editorial control over the games, with adjustments to the payments and deliverable schedule (6.4).  The drop date for the first game was set as June 1, 2004 (6.5). A comprehensively documented deliverable also had to be delivered on ten working days' notice with the final, and pretty much any time Activision asked for one (6.6).

Activision retained the right to accept or reject any milestone and acceptance had to be in writing. Even if Activision paid a milestone was not deemed accepted unless the acceptance was in writing, with the payment due ten days after the written acceptance. Of course, any payment or late acceptance was not considered a waiver of he requirements of the agreement or of constitute any extension of the preset milestones (6.7).

Tom: Spark was required to produce any additional enhancements to the game to keep it competitive, and agreed to negotiate any changes to the milestones and payment schedule or Activision could hand off the enhancement or the project to another developer (7.1).  Activision also retained all rights to port the game to other platforms (7.2).  

Sequels - Activision retains the rights to all sequels. But Spark had a right of first negotiation which required them to accept a deal within ten days.

Chris & Dave:  The right of negotiation is the most common sequel right granted in a development agreement, but there are other possibilities such as a right of first refusal (the publisher must offer the deal to the developer first) and a right of last refusal (the publisher must give the developer the right to match any existing offer involving another developer).

Tom: If Activision offered any sequels to another developer on more favorable terms than those offered to Spark, then Spark was given another ten-day period to accept the revised deal. 

Chris & Dave: This is the matching right, or the right of last refusal. 

Tom: Spark was also required to assist any developer making a sequel and would be compensated for any such work (8.1).

Chris & Dave:  Spark will only get compensated for this assistance if it “reaches a material level.” Spark will likely think that any work is material, but Activision might not agree. This could lead to future disputes.




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