Cost to licence characters or ships for a game

Posted by Michael Jasper on Game Development See other posts from Game Development or by Michael Jasper
Published on 2012-06-08T18:33:53Z Indexed on 2012/06/08 22:48 UTC
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I am producing a game pitch document for a university game design class, and I am looking for examples of licencing cost for using characters or ships from other IP holders in a game. For example:

  • cost of using an X-Wing in a game, licencing from Lucas
  • cost of using the Enterprise in a game, licencing from Paramount
  • cost of using the Space Shuttle (if any), licencing from Nasa

EDIT

The closest information I can find is from an article about Nights of the Old Republic, but isn't nearly specific enough for my needs:

What Kotick means by Lucas being the principal beneficiary of the success of The Old Republic is that there are most likely clauses in the license agreement that give percentages, points, or another denomination of revenue out to Lucas and his people just for the Star Wars name, and that amount is presumed to be a great deal of money. Kotick is saying that because the cost of the license is so prohibitive, as he has personally had experience with in his position as CEO of Activision Blizzard, that EA will not be able to be profitable because of the hemorrhaging of money to the licensor.

EDIT 2

Another vague source stating that FOX uses a "five-figure rule" (assuming between $10,000 -> $99,000)

It seems FOX, like most studios, will not license individuals to create new works based upon their products. They will only commission individuals of their choosing if they elect to branch out into expanded product lines related to those licenses. Alternately, they are open to making the licencing available to large corporations with access to global markets, but only if those corporations agree to what Ms Friedman called a "five-figure guarantee". Presumably this means that the corporation seeking the licensing must agree to pay a 5-figure sum for that license, and be confident that their product will sell enough volume to recoup that fee, and to produce sufficient profits to make the acquisition worth their while.

Thank you!

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