Set up indie game studio (UK) - how?

Question

I am UK based and am looking to set up my own game studio - essentially, just myself working from home, looking to build casual game apps. I want to ask you guys what steps or process i need to go through and do to make this happen, specifically the legal side of things. Will be great to hear from those who have been through this themselves! Need to register with HRMC as self employed is the only thing i know i have to do but what else?:

1. Do i need to register/trademark my own company/studio name? If so, where do i do this and does it cost money? Or can i just simply start using a name as is?
2. Do i need to also do this for any games/apps IP i make? Or is copyright automatically assumed?
3. I gather acting as sole trader is more appropriate at this stage? At what point, if ever, should i consider moving to an actual limited company setup?
4. Is it wise to open a new bank account solely for this business?

I think my plan was simply to: 1. Find a suitable domain name and create website based on my company name - assuming available and different enough from similar competitor names 2. Register as self employed with HRMC 3. Sell my game on app store

And thats it! Is this ok or do i need consider other stuff as well such as the questions above?

Thank you for reading and any advice you have!

Answer 1

The short answer is "it depends" but let me explain.

First off I am not a Lawyer (nor would I want to be) so this is information I found.

Company Registration

OK Assuming you wish to set up as a sole-trader (which is the comparably lowest start-up cost). You have to consider that the area in which you do your "work" could be charged business rates (kinda like council tax on your house) also you tax assessment has to be handled by yourself. VAT also has to be managed by you.

To register go to Companies House which cost at time of writing £15.00

Copyright

From intellectual property office suggests that all works will be protected automatically. UK is extremely strict with patents so do not expect to get one of those for your games.

When to "Upgrade" company

Well you are allowed to hire employees as sole trader and all the usual... I believe however after 35k revenue you start being taxed hard and are advised to change to limited company.

Bank Account

As a sole trader you are solely liable for all debts your company gets so your personal finances will be affected. That being said simply having a new account makes it easier to manage and track.

Personally from your question it suggests you as yet to have a product to market then you may wish to put this on hold until you do as it a lot of work to manage and will negate from your time actually developing the products.

Answer 2

I think you're going about this backwards and possibly haven't done enough research into the feasibility of "going indie". Try this before quitting your job...

• Make a complete game that isn't a low quality tech demo
• Sell it
• See how much you earn
• Keep a log of how long it takes to make
• Figure out how much your time is worth per hour

If it's less than minimum wage, go work at McDonalds instead.

Seriously, "sell it on the AppStore" is not going to fund your future. People moan and begrudge paying 69p for a game that might take you two years to make, and unless your game is something special I bet it already exists for free on the AppStore already.

Answer 3

First of all, all of this information will vary from country to country.

1: To have exclusive rights to that name(in your country) you will need to register your company with the government. While I suppose you could use it without registering your company, it would hold no legal authority. In my country(New Zealand), you do this at the Companies register with a small one time fee. I assume it's the same or very similar in all developed countries.

2: I think copyright is automatic, though at least in the US you can get copyright for your game by applying for it even though it isn't required.

3: I am unsure of the advantages and disadvantages of sole trade vs company, but in my country it seems very simple to set up a company and you only need to do a small amount of extra work each year, somewhere around 30 minutes. I imagine the UK is similar to mine, whereas the US has some whacked-out tax system that might be rather complex to use.

4: If you start a company, I imagine it would be better to have a bank account attached to that instead of having it in your own name, although I am not certain it would matter too much either way early on.

Answer 4

If you live in the UK there's always the Citizen's Advice Bureau whom I believe you can contact with any issues like these and they'll point you in the right direction. I'd also disagree with others in that if you honestly want to make games, go for it, don't quit your job straight away but if you're making enough income off of a game I see no reason why you can't work on that full time.

Sorry I couldn't help out more than that and it seems this question is quite old but if it helps I'm glad to offer it.