Interest in the game development industry is not diminishing. The upward trend has been consistent for several years, and 2021 is sure to bring a further increase. Forecasts indicate that in 2023 the value of the game market will exceed USD 200 billion.

The Warsaw Stock Exchange has strengthened its position as the world leader in the number of listed companies from the game development industry, even ahead of the stock exchanges in Japan and South Korea. The game market is becoming an increasingly promising area for investors, which can be seen in both the number and value of transactions. The segments of mobile games, distribution under a subscription model, and cloud gaming are gaining. At the same time, with so many titles available on the market, game marketing becomes more difficult and skilful community-building around a specific title becomes vital.

Recognising the importance of the game industry, last year we published the report “Law for game development,” which deals with specific legal issues in the production and publication of games. However, new legal challenges are emerging that must be faced by all stakeholders in the broader game industry. Therefore, we are starting another series of publications in which we will touch upon, among other topics, intellectual property law, labour law, personal data, and less-obvious aspects of criminal or regulatory law. We will also devote a lot of space to commercial issues that can be useful for game developers and investors alike.

In the first text, we discuss the use of images of real-life people in games.

Jakub Barański, Monika A. Górska, Lena Marcinoska-Boulangé, Krzysztof Wojdyło