INCLUSION RULES
International Game Developers Association
Back to Credits Main Page PDF Version 8.5
[edit] INCL.1 – Any person, contractor or employee, who has contributed to the production of the game for at least 30 days of a 12-month or greater project must be credited. For projects shorter than 12 months, any person who has contributed during 10% of the project's total time in development must also be credited.
1-1. Time on project is to be counted in days the position is held, not hours worked.
1-2. For Leads, it is permissible to omit the ‘Lead’ designation from the credit if the person spent less than 50% of the project’s total workdays in development in a Lead role.
1-3. For non-Leads, if the contribution consists of less than 40% or eight months (whichever is least) of the project’s total workdays in development, then the credit may be listed in a lower tier, e.g. “Additional Programming.”
a. While credits have been just as controversial for who is included as much as who was not included, the more manageable solution is to adopt an inclusive philosophy. Given the nature of intermittent activity in the development process, a simple threshold may not be so unreasonable. Special consideration should not be provided for “crunch days” when determining the number of days for an employee’s contribution to a project. If there are rewards for “crunch,” there is no incentive to reduce it, and there are other ways to reward crunch without affecting crediting practices.
[edit] INCL.2 – Credit is retained by any person who leaves the company or project prior to the project’s completion, provided they pass Rule INCL.1.
b. Typically, there is no resistance to this idea until a person with a solitary credit, usually a Lead, realizes he or she must share billing with an ex-contributor.
[edit] INCL.3 – Credit is retained by any person who is fired or who has engaged in illegal activity not related to their contribution to the project, provided they pass Rule INCL.1.
c. Getting fired is a human resources issue that should have nothing to do with crediting projects. For example, while a few U.S. Representatives have been convicted of criminal activity and removed from office, all of them are still acknowledged as having been U.S. Representatives.
d. Past service should always be acknowledged for the record to avoid the possibility of blacklisting.
[edit] INCL.4 – “Legacy credit” should be provided in the following circumstances:
4-1. For re-releases or acquired properties that include a previous original work in whole or in part, all of the original developers should be credited above any new credit related to the re-release or adaptation, since the work being purchased by the consumer is fundamentally the original content for all intents and purposes.
4-2. For ported games, credits should show the whole original team at the top, followed by the whole team of the ported version at the bottom, since the work being purchased by the consumer is fundamentally the original content for all intents and purposes.
4-3. For expansion packs, credits should show the whole expansion team at the top, followed by the whole team of the original game at the bottom, since the work being purchased by the consumer is specifically the expanded content.
4-4. For sequels or franchise installments, credit should be provided to the person responsible for creating the original concept, idea, or design known as the “intellectual property.”
Example 1: A North American company acquires a 15-year-old Japanese game and upgrades the graphic style from 8-bit to 16-bit; the original 8-bit Japanese developers should receive credit, including the artists. This credit may be supplemented with new credit for new work (e.g., for added dungeons etc.). Example 2: In Ubisoft’s Rayman Raving Rabbids, a credit states that the game is based on the characters of Michel Ancel.
