Business and Management of Games
USC School of Cinema-Television, CTIN 458
Instructor: Tom Frisina
Units: 2
Course Description:
This course provides preparation for successful careers in interactive entertainment. The course
covers a range of business and legal issues, including an overview of current business models in
games and interactive media, methods for pitching and getting products funded, legal issues pertaining
to copyright and intellectual property issues, production management techniques, as well as business
start-up nuts and bolts for aspiring entrepreneurs.
The course will consist of lecture, discussion and hands-on exercises that will prepare students to work
with common business tools such as spreadsheets, budgets, schedules and contracts.
Meeting Information:
Lecture: 2 hour
Discussion: 1 hour
Course Reader:
The required reader is available at the University bookstore.
Evaluation of student performance:
The course will have several in-class assignments, and one final project that will start mid-term and
continue to the end of the semester. Students will be graded based on creativity and ability to apply
theoretical and design concepts learned to creative applications. Students are also graded for a final
presentation of their project at the end of the class. Grade value will be apportioned as follows:
Participation
In-class Assignments
Final Project
Final Presentation
Total:
10
40
30
20
100
Required reading:
Game Plan: The Insider’s Guide to Breaking In and Succeeding in the Computer and
Video Game Business, Alan Gershenfeld, Marc Laparco, Cecelia Barajas
Game Development Business and Legal Guide, Ashley Salisbury
Game Creation and Careers, Marc Saltzman
Get in the Game: Careers in the game industry, Marc Mencher
The Indie Game Development Survival Guide, David Michael
Secrets of the Game Business, Francois Dominic Laramee
Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Videogames, Leonard Herman
Convergence Design: Creating the User Experience for Interactive Television, Wireless and
Broadband, Steven Curran
Business and Management of Games
USC School of Cinema-Television, CTIN 458
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Course content (summarized by class meeting)
Week 1: Introduction the Class
Lecture/discussion:
 Overview of current interactive media formats, including specific individual and convergence
models
Assignment:
Readings:
 Get in the Game, Marc Mencher, Chapter 1
 Convergence Design: Creating the User Experience for Interactive Television, Wireless
and Broadband, Steven Curran, Chapter 1-2
Week 2: The Medium is the Market
Lecture/discussion:
 Determining the target audience/market for your product
 Determining the appropriate medium/a for your project
 Various distribution infrastructures – benefits and shortcomings of each
Assignment #1: Market Analysis (due week 3)
 Write a three-page marketing analysis/rationale for your final project
Reading:
 Phoenix: The rise and Fall of Videogames, Leonard Herman, Chapter 3
Week 3: Pitching the Project
Lecture/discussion:
 Determining who/how to pitch your project
 Structure of a pitch and pitch document
 What producers/publishers/distributors really care about
 How to get their attention
Assignment #2: Pitch Document & Presentation (due week 6)
 Write a pitch document and prepare a pitch presentation for your final project
Readings:
 Game Plan, Alan Gershenfeld, Marc Laparco, Cecelia Barajas, Chapter 7
 Get in the Game, Marc Mencher, Chapter 10
Week 4: Focus – Consumer Games (PC & Console)
Lecture/discussion:
 In-depth discussion of consumer PC and console game markets
 Key players
 Production models
 Economic models
 Structuring deals
Reading:
 Selected readings from suggested reading list (Handout)
Week 5: Focus – Web Entertainment, Interactive Television and Web/TV Convergence
Lecture/discussion:
 In-depth discussion of web entertainment market, including online communities
 Discussion of web/TV convergence and interactive television
 Production models
 Economic models
 Structuring deals
Reading:
 Convergence Design: Creating the User Experience for Interactive Television, Wireless and
Broadband, Steven Curran Chapters 3-4
Week 6: Pitch Critique
Present Pitches
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 Present project pitches
 Critique by guest critics, professor and other students
Assignment:
 Continue of Assignment #2 (final draft due week 7)
Reading:
 Secrets of the Game Business, Francois Dominic Laramee, Chapter 2
Week 7: Managing the Project
Lecture/discussion:
 Creating a set of goals
 Determining deliverables
 Estimating and scheduling
 Budgeting
 Managing to schedule
Final Assignment: Due 1st day of finals
 With Instructor Approval select a company operating in the interactive space and complete a
full business analysis of the company’s strategy, short term obstacles and long term
opportunities and challenges. (Min 8 pages)
Week 8: Entrepreneurialism
Lecture/discussion:
 In-depth discussion of entrepreneurial approach
 How to start a business
 Various models for creating a new business
 Pitfalls
 Why most new interactive businesses die after two years
 The stock market and the IPO trap
Assignment #3: New Business Proposal (first draft due week 10)
 Write a proposal for a new business (can be done individually or in groups)
Reading:
 Game Development Business and Legal Guide, Chapter 1, 3
Week 9: Focus – Convergence/Divergence/Transmedia
Lecture/discussion:
 In-depth discussion of interactive other convergence, divergence and transmedia models
 Includes discussion of toys and games and structures within the toy business
 Key players
 Production models
 Economic models
 Structuring deals
Reading:
 Convergence Design: Creating the User Experience for Interactive Television, Wireless
and Broadband, Steven Curran
Week 10: Focus – Arcades, Theme Parks and Location-Based Entertainment
*Critique of New Business proposals
Lecture/discussion:
 In-depth discussion of arcades and location-based entertainment
 Key players
 Production models
 Economic models
 Structuring deals
Assignment:
 Readings: Handouts from selected suggested reading list
Business and Management of Games
USC School of Cinema-Television, CTIN 458
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Week 11: Intellectual Property, Licensing and Copyright
Lecture/discussion:
 Guest lecture and/or panel on intellectual property and licensing
Assignment:
 Final draft Assignment #3
Reading:
 Game Development Business and Legal Guide, Chapter 5(Intellectual Property), 7(Licensing)
Week 12: Dealmaking – Part 1
Dealmaking workshop:
 A hands-on two-session workshop about negotiating and structuring deals
 Includes role-playing negotiation sessions and drafting of deal memos
In-class:
 Role-play deal negotiations
Assignment #4:
 Read selected sample deal memos
 Draft deal memo
Week 13: Dealmaking – Part 2
Part 2 of dealmaking workshop.
In-class:
 Continue negotiation
 Complete Assignment #4 deal memo (final draft due week 14)
Week 14: How to read a Contract
Lecture/discussion:
 Guest lecturer on reading contracts
 Simulated negotiation scenario (wither live or video) played out in class in preparation for
assignment
Assignment #5: Contract Analysis (due week 15)
 Read and analyze a sample contract “based on” simulated negotiation scenario
 Annotate contract with notes determining how close contract is to negotiated deal points, points
in contract that were not discussed or are ambiguous, and points which contradict agreed-to
terms
Reading:
 Game Development Business and Legal Guide, Chapter 6
Week 15: Focus – Careers in Fine Arts, Academia and Research
Lecture/discussion:
 In-depth discussion of careers in research, fine arts and academia
 How research and fine arts projects are funded and structured
 Writing the grant proposal
Final Exam: Final Presentations
Suggested Readings:
The Art of Interactive Design
Chris Crawford
The Playful World: How Technology is Transforming Our Imagination
Mark Pesce
Playing For Profit: How Digital Entertainment Is Making Big Business Out of Child’s Play
Alice LaPlante/Rich Seidner
Trigger Happy: Games and the Entertainment Revolution
Steven Poole
Interactive Design for New Media and the Web
Nicholas V. Iuppa
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Writing for Interactive Media: The Complete Guide
Jon Samsel/Darryl Wimberley
Digital Storytelling: A Creator’s Guide to Interactive Entertainment
Carolyn Handler Miller
Game Architecture and Design: A New Edition
Andrew Rollings
Ultimate Game Design: Building Game Worlds
Tom Meigs
Creation Emotion in Games: The Craft and Art of Emotioneering
David Freeman
Developing Online Games: An Insider’s Guide
Jessica Mulligan/Bridgette Patrovsky
Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design
Andew Rollings/Ernest Adams
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created An Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
David Kushner
Break Into the Game Industry: How to Get a Job Making Video Games
Ernest Adams
Game Over: Press Start to Continue
David Sheff
The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon – The Story Behind the Craze that
Touched Our Lives and Changed the World
Steven L. Kent
High Score: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games
Rusel DeMaria/Johnny L. Wilson
Got Game: How a New Generation of Gamers Is Reshaping Business Forever John Beck
The Visual Story: Seeing the Structure in Film, TV, and New Media
Bruce A. Block
Digital Storytelling: A Creator’s Guide to Interactive Entertainment
Carolyn Handler Miller
Pause and Effect: The Art of Interactive Narrative
Mark Stephen Meadows
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
Katie Salen/Eric Zimmerman
Interactive Television Demystified
Jerry C. Whitaker
Bamboozled at the Revolution: How Big Media Lost Billions in the Battle for the Internet
John Motavalli
The Medium of the Video Game
Mark J.P. Wolf/Ralph H. Baer
The First Quarter: A 25-year History of Video Games
Steven L. Kent
Game Development and Production
Erik Bethke
Game Design Workshop
Tracy Fullerton/Christopher Swain/Steven Hoffman
Missing an Assignment, Incompletes:
The only acceptable excuses for missing an assignment or taking an incomplete in the course are
personal illness or a family emergency. Students must inform the instructor before the assignment is
due and present verifiable evidence in order for a make-up to be scheduled. Students who wish to take
incompletes must also present documentation of the problem to the instructor before final grades are
due.
Note for students with disabilities:
Business and Management of Games
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Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with
Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved
accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to us as early in the
semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301, and is open 8:30am5:00pm Monday through Friday.
The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
Academic Integrity:
The School of Cinema-Television expects the highest standards of academic excellence and ethical
performance from USC students. It is particularly important that you are aware of and avoid plagiarism,
cheating on exams, submitting a paper to more than one instructor, or submitting a paper authored by
anyone other than yourself. Violations of this policy will result in a failing grade band be reported to the
Office of Student Judicial Affairs. If you have any doubts or questions about these policies, consult
“SCAMPUS” and/or confer with the instructor.
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