In December 2023, China’s National Press and Publication Administration introduced draft regulations with potentially significant implications for the online gaming industry. The proposed regulations, aimed at curbing in-game spending, could substantially affect games that rely on high spenders for their revenue, particularly “free to play” games. This initiative is part of China’s broader strategy to regulate the country’s leading gaming industry, which rebounded to generate approximately $42 billion in 2023, following a decline in revenue in the previous year due to China’s previous regulatory crackdown which included a temporary suspension of new game approvals and restrictions on the amount of time children can spend on gaming.Continue Reading China Proposes New Regulations for Online Gaming

Roblox recently announced that it is working on generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools that will help developers who build experiences on Roblox, to more easily create games and assets. The first two test tools create generative AI content from a text prompt and enable generative AI to complete computer code. This is just the tip of the iceberg on how generative AI will be used in games and a variety of other creative industries. Music, film, art, comic books, and literary works are some other uses. AI tools are powerful and their use will no doubt be far reaching. In the near term, so too will the associated legal issues. Some of the legal issues include:Continue Reading How Generative AI Generates Legal Issues in the Games Industry

When a patent owner loses at the International Trade Commission (“ITC”), can it hire new counsel and try again in district court? That question will be answered in Gamevice, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. et al, No. 3-18-cv-01942 (N.D. Cal.), where plaintiff Gamevice is asserting three patents against Nintendo despite losing on those same patents in two prior ITC proceedings.Continue Reading Too Many Bites at the Apple?

A newly inked strategic partnership between Sony Music Entertainment and Roblox is another indication of a maturing relationship amongst the music, gaming, and esports industries, a synergy that has evolved for years and in particular, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The major record label and game creation platform have enjoyed the mutual success of their recent collaborations and are now gearing up to allocate more resources to developing “innovative music experiences for the Roblox community that offer a range of new commercial opportunities for Sony Music artists to reach new audiences and generate new revenue streams around virtual entertainment.”
Continue Reading Strategic Partnerships Advance Music and Gaming Synergy

This was originally published by Esports Insider on June 24, 2021

The world of competitive video gaming implicates a complicated patchwork of privacy laws, and esports companies need to keep in mind some key issues when assessing privacy and cybersecurity obligations. Understanding these obligations is all the more important as esports continues to be a quickly growing international trend.Continue Reading Playing with privacy? Privacy and cybersecurity considerations in esports

During the first few months of the COVID-19 lockdown, with virtually all major sporting events cancelled, sports betting and gambling companies turned their eyes toward the esports universe in search of a solution. While initially large scale esports events were also cancelled, professional gaming competitions soon began taking place online. As one of the only professional “sports” competitions being broadcasted with any consistency, esports competitions filled the gap for many sportsbook operators.
Continue Reading The Rise of Esports Betting

On Thursday April 30, 2020 U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley announced their intent to introduce the ” Countering Chinese Attempts at Snooping ” Act,  with the goal of “… Banning U.S. Officials from Using Tencent, … [and] Other Chinese Communist Party-Backed Platforms.” Specifically, the legislation requires that the company that creates the prohibited technology be “domiciled in the People’s Republic of China or subject to influence or control by the Government of the People Republic of China or the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China” (“China”).  Given Tencent’s investments and involvement in some of the most popular game companies, this may come as a concern to the gamers in congress. But there are two reasons why this legislation may not cut into their gaming sessions.
Continue Reading Proposed Anti-Spying Legislation May Not Be Cause for Alarm for Gamers in Congress

The Washington State Federal District Court recently issued a decision stating: “Washington’s definition of ‘gambling’ only reaches ‘staking or risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under the person’s control or influence’ and that “[m]ost games not derived from casinos involve some amount of skill and would thus be unlikely to meet the statutory definition.”
Continue Reading Most Non-casino Style Games Unlikely to be Gambling in Washington

In a controversial decision, the Illinois Supreme Court determined that a head-to-head, daily fantasy sports (DFS) contest was predominately skill based and thus not gambling. Despite agreeing with the appellate court’s conclusion that the DFS contest at issue was not gambling, the Court disagreed with much of the appellate court’s reasoning.
Continue Reading Daily Fantasy Sports Case Skillfully Comes to a Head

Microsoft has announced a partnership with Enjin to offer a blockchain based recognition program. Azure Heroes aims to reward individuals for verifiable acts of impact such as coaching, creating demos, building sample code, blogging about Azure or completing certain challenges. Community members that have demonstrated their contributions will be recognized with badges across a number of categories. Azure Heroes is branded as a new and fun way to earn digital collectibles for meaningful impact in the technical community.
Continue Reading Azure Heroes – Microsoft Partners With Enjin to Offer Crypto Collectible Rewards