Releasing mobile game under alternate name?

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1 comment, last by Orymus3 9 years, 11 months ago

Hello, I am a part of an independent game studio. We are working on our first large project, but just for quick fun though, we have also made a couple of mobile games we would like to release to the app stores, namely Google Play and Apple. We would like not to associate our company with the mobile market though. Is there anything we can do to accomplish this?

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You'll need to create a new name that it gets associated with.

There are several options available to you. Probably the easiest is to just create it as a brand within your business that looks and acts like a second group. Another option is to create an entirely separate legal entity. Another option is to not try to hide it at all, use your name, but just don't publicise the parent name.

One option in the US, the term is "DBA" or "Doing Business As", where you basically create a separate business name for the other products within the same legal structure of the primary business. There are similar simple legal structures in other nations.

You'll need to be a little careful about it, so check with your business lawyer. Obviously you need to pay your taxes, governments shut down those that don't. There may be some potential other consequences if you get things wrong, such as accusations of anticompetitive behavior, or illegally using shell corporations, or using legally deceptive practices, or illegally moving resources between entities. It would be best to meet with your business lawyer, discuss the specifics of what you want to do, and follow their advice.

I see more risk with trying to do this than gains to be honest. If you create a new business to own these IPs, you'll have a lot of paperwork to transition the rights back to your original business should you ever choose to followup on any of them.

Going for a branded approach would be better. You could setup your business to have different sub-divisions. For example:

"Core Company" (Line of work)

CoolStudio: Games

CoolStudio: Interactive Medias

CoolStudio: Serious Gaming

etc.

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