Ahead of PC Connects London 2019 on January 21st and 22nd we are catching up with some of the big names that we have on-stage at the show.
Today, Peter Lewin from law firm Purewal and Partners shares his thoughts on the last twelve months and the coming year for the video games industry.
Tell us a bit about the company.
Purewal & Partners is a digital entertainment law firm and business consultancy in London specialising in games, esports and digital broadcast. We provide the full range of legal and business support, specialising in commercial contracts negotiation, intellectual property, regulatory and dispute resolution matters. We pride ourselves on our industry knowledge, commitment and long-term thinking. We provide real advice, no jargon, no waffle and no fence sitting.
What does your role entail?
A large part of my job involves reviewing and negotiating commercial deals (e.g. development, publishing and licensing agreements), which I love because it involves thinking about things from a business perspective as well as a legal one in order to arrive at a deal that actually works for the particular client. It also requires truly getting to know a client, which I think is crucial to being a trusted advisor. I also regularly advise on a variety of intellectual property, licensing, regulatory, gambling and general commercial matters for both start-ups and established studios. Some of my work highlights to-date include advising on several multi-million dollar game publishing deals (dev side), negotiating and papering several of the largest esports player transfers to-date, assisting a client with its international rebranding and trademark execution strategy and helping multiple clients expand into China and navigate the complex local regulatory landscape.
Why did you want to work in the games industry?
Gaming is one of the things in my life that I’ve simply never lost interest in, despite having put so much time into it. Even though I've been playing games for more than 20 years now, I regularly pick up new games that make me go wow, I’ve never played something quite like that before. Playing a small part in the creation of these games is really exciting.
What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into it?
Be passionate, persistent and ready to take action when an opportunity presents itself.
What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?
There's certainly been a lot going on in the last year, whether that's the emergence of new game genres like battle royale, increasing regulatory attention towards monetisation models such as loot boxes and publishers launching their own game stores (e.g. Discord, Epic). And I think that's one of the things that makes this industry so exciting to work in - the unpredictability of how and where it will grow next.
What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?
Increased Steam competition. The battle royale genre will continue to grow. China will (hopefully) start to slowly re-open its doors to new foreign and domestic games. Loot box discussions are going to come to a head (somehow).
How has the games industry changed since you first started?
The concept of games as a service has expanded greatly. More and more games are becoming living products that are iterated upon and expanded for years, which has a bunch of interesting implications for both studio structuring, deals negotiation and the importance of commercial relationships.
Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?
The fantastic people and other presentations
Tickets for just PC Connects London 2019 are available right here, with tickets for the entire show on sale here - buy now to save big.
More info about the event can be found right here.