How royalty management saved developers $16m

Writing a special feature for Develop, Loxely’s Faye Sieracki has revealed that the royalty management audits her employer has undertaken since 2002 have recouped $16 million in lost money for game developers.

Loxely, which formally traded under the name Media Forensics, helps studios clarify details in developer/publisher royalty or profit share contracts, and help with royalty managemnt audits in a number of ways. While audits of any kind usually send a shudder of dread through most developers, royalty management is, according to Sieracki, something every studio should consider.

"I guess the easiest way to highlight the benefits of undertaking well co-ordinated RM activity is to throw out a figure; $16 million," revealed Sieracki. "That’s the total sum of monies that both Media Forensics and Loxley Royalty Management have jointly uncovered for developers since our inception in 2002. That figure again – $16 million. That’s a lot of money.

"From this you can see that a developer who adopts royalty management as a core activity within its business benefits from the knowledge that they are keeping pace with the products performance in terms of sales, returns, deductions and, ultimately, the royalty or profit share resulting from this activity."

In her feature, Sieracki offers an in depth guide to how best to secure a worthwhile royalty management audit, and offers an insight into how the process can better your business.

"Royalty management is – or should be – an intrinsic part of the developer business process. It isn’t there simply for when things go wrong," confirmed Sieracki.