Tabletop Game Publishing Agreement

Signing your board game to a publisher, or publishing someone else's? Get the royalties, rights, and reversion terms right before anyone prints a copy.

$1,000
Contact us to get started

Your $150 consultation fee is credited toward any services you decide to purchase.

A handshake is not a publishing deal

Most tabletop deals start warmly. A designer has a game, a publisher wants it, and everyone is excited to get it on shelves. Then the game does well, and the terms nobody wrote down start to matter: how royalties are calculated, who owns the title, what happens on a second printing, and whether the designer can ever get the game back.

The deals that stay friendly are the ones where all of that was in writing before the first copy was printed.

What the agreement actually decides

A tabletop publishing agreement is really a handful of decisions that each move real money:

The royalty, and how net sales are defined across physical, digital, merchandise, sublicensed, and crowdfunding revenue. The rights: territory, languages, formats, and whether the publisher can sublicense to foreign publishers. The term, and just as important, what reverts to the designer when it ends. And the ownership, including who keeps the game IP and who ends up owning the title and logo as a trademark.

Leave any of these to a good-faith understanding and you have left the most important parts of the deal to memory.

Either side of the table

I draft and review these for both designers and publishers. If you’re a designer, I make sure the royalty math is real, the credit and copies are there, and the rights come back to you if the game stalls. If you’re a publisher, I make sure you have the decision-making authority, the license scope, and the trademark protection you need to actually invest in the game.

Flat fee, scoped to your deal, and drafted by someone who knows how tabletop actually works.

What's included

  • A publishing or design license agreement built around your specific deal, from either side of the table
  • Royalty rates on products, merchandise, and sublicenses, with net sales actually defined so the word isn't a loophole
  • Crowdfunding, physical, and digital revenue all accounted for, with a clear payment schedule and audit rights
  • Rights, territory, languages, and term spelled out, plus reversion terms if the game goes out of print
  • Designer credit, complimentary copies, approvals, and decision-making authority set out in plain terms
  • IP ownership and trademark terms so everyone knows who owns the game and who owns the brand

Who this is for

  • Board game designers licensing a game to a publisher
  • Tabletop publishers signing an outside designer's game
  • Studios running a Kickstarter and paying designer royalties

Related reading

More on this from the Legal Moves blog.

Are Your Game's Terms of Service Actually Enforceable?

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Do Game Studios Need an NDA? When to Use One and What a Lawyer Charges

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Rights of First Refusal in Game Publishing Agreements

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Common questions

What's the difference between a publishing agreement and a design license?

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Not much, in practice. In tabletop, the publisher licenses the designer's game, then pays to produce, market, and sell it in exchange for royalties. Whether you call it a publishing agreement or a design license, it's the same relationship, and the same terms decide whether it's fair: royalties, rights, term, and what happens if it ends.

How are royalties usually calculated?

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As a percentage of net sales, not the sticker price. The whole game is in how 'net' is defined. A good agreement spells out net physical, digital, merchandise, sublicensed, and crowdfunding sales separately, sets the payment schedule (usually quarterly, within 60 days), and gives the designer the right to audit the books. Vague net-sales language is where designers quietly lose money.

What happens if the publisher never actually publishes the game?

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That's what a publish-or-revert clause is for. A designer-friendly agreement lets the designer walk if the publisher hasn't published, or shown real intent to publish, within a set window (often 24 months), and reverts the rights back to the designer on termination. Without it, a publisher can sit on your game indefinitely.

Do I keep the rights to my game?

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You should. In a well-drafted license the designer keeps ownership of the game itself and only grants a license to publish it, with the rights reverting when the deal ends. Watch the trademark terms, though: the game's final title and logo are often assigned to the publisher, so know what you're handing over before you sign.

What does a tabletop publishing agreement cost?

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A $1,000 flat fee for a standard designer-publisher agreement, so you know the price before we start. Heavily negotiated or unusual deals can run more, and I'll tell you before any work begins. Compared to years of royalties on a game that sells, it's the cheapest part of the deal.

Ready to get started?

Schedule a consultation and we'll map out exactly what your tabletop game publishing agreement needs and what it costs, with no obligation.

Your $150 consultation fee is credited toward any services you decide to purchase.

Contact us to get started