Proceadure of developping a new game

Hello
I'm new in your forum and I like what I have read so far.

Now I am interested in if there is a guideline what to do if someone has an idea of a new casino game.

There are many things to be done:
- calculating the house edge
- patent registration
- and then?

but how does it look in details? How to approach a casino with a new game? And what are the expected costs of the patent and the research about it?

Is there a violation if you change small parts from another game? or does it depend on the actual situation?

And last but not least: where should a European game developer start? in the US market or in Europe?

I hope someone can help... and I know it is very hard to implement new casino games and no one is waiting for me. But why not giving it a try?

Probably depends on the market you're trying to corner.

A good place to start is to read the articles listed at http://gamingmath.com/related.html.

Check out this book:

Link

Thanks! I will check it.

But can one estimate in advance the costs of the legal/patent procedure?
is it more like 3k usd or 20k usd?

DRich I like your signature!

Quote: zackmacintosh

Thanks! I will check it.

But can one estimate in advance the costs of the legal/patent procedure?
is it more like 3k usd or 20k usd?

DRich I like your signature!

In my experience it can cost in the range of 15-20k. There are so many little fees that many don't factor into the total. Answering an office action alone that requires you to meet and work with the patent attorney gets expensive in a hurry.

Right -- the cost of preparing and filing a patent is only a small fraction of the ultimate cost of owning and managing a patent. If you're unaware of the process, there are a few good books on the topic by Nolo Press.

Is there any chance to "sell" the idea with all the math done to a gaming distributor? Or any kind of deal?
I don't think to begin with the US market, just because I am not in the US... so that would be also a bigger hurdle for me.

Anyways, even if I can contact such a company, I still don't know how I can protect the idea without having a patent (could be that they say no, and then just steal the idea :) ).

My game is not a totally new game, it's just a variation of an existing table game (actually I have 2 ideas; one allready completely calculated and the other will be done as soon as I have more time and the knowledge that what I am doing might have future success).

I spoke to my close environment, who are casino visitors, about my ideas; some of them found it interesting and would like to play, others prefer totally new skill games.

Quote: zackmacintosh

Is there any chance to "sell" the idea with all the math done to a gaming distributor? Or any kind of deal?
I don't think to begin with the US market, just because I am not in the US... so that would be also a bigger hurdle for me.

Anyways, even if I can contact such a company, I still don't know how I can protect the idea without having a patent (could be that they say no, and then just steal the idea :) ).

My game is not a totally new game, it's just a variation of an existing table game (actually I have 2 ideas; one allready completely calculated and the other will be done as soon as I have more time and the knowledge that what I am doing might have future success).

I spoke to my close environment, who are casino visitors, about my ideas; some of them found it interesting and would like to play, others prefer totally new skill games.

I will say that Pacman on this site has, in the past, accepted games at your development point, and encouraged people to approach him with them. You can PM him (Roger Snow, table games, EVP Ballytech/SHFL/ScientificGames) and ask for contact info and availability from him. He is honorable about not "stealing" your idea, but he will tell you bluntly if it has merit or not, and whether it's new or already tried/out there somewhere. I would suggest that you do this in two steps, for your and his protection; don't open your correspondence with your idea, just that you have one and ask him how he wants to proceed from there.

I'm not suggesting anyone else you might contact from this board is less than honorable or would not be a good choice; in fact, there are many good people on here. However, I have worked/am working with Roger as a distributor and I can vouch for him.

Yes, as BBB said, any game developer can contact me directly at Roger.Snow@Scientificgames.com. E-mail is preferable to private messaging; I'm always forgetting my damn password. We have worked with quite a few people on this forum over the years, and while we haven't always succeeded, we've always gotten our hands dirty trying.

-Roger

Quote: Pacman

Yes, as BBB said, any game developer can contact me directly at Roger.Snow@Scientificgames.com. E-mail is preferable to private messaging; I'm always forgetting my damn password. We have worked with quite a few people on this forum over the years, and while we haven't always succeeded, we've always gotten our hands dirty trying.

-Roger

If the name Roger Snow is unfamiliar to you, let me fill you in.

He was the CEO of ShuffleMaster. One of his primary jobs was creating, or finding, new table games. As such, a few years ago, he invited several of us to the ShuffleMaster offices for a game demo day where we demoed our games. He did it again the following year. Personally, I found the event, as well as a private meeting with him afterwards, very rewarding.

I doubt his job or title changed much over the years, but ShuffleMaster changed their name to SHFL, then merged with Bally Technologies, who recently (news to me) got bought out by Scientific Games. But, if his above post is any indication, Roger is still doing the same thing regarding new games. And I assume he's still just as accessible as he used to be.

I mention this primarily because, even though they technically no longer exist, the ShuffleMaster name gets mentioned as often as Harrah's is mentioned when people really mean Caesars.


But don't forget that there are other players in the table games distribution field. There's Galaxy Gaming and DEQ to name just a couple.

Thank you all!

I will contact Mr. Pacman as soon as I spoke to my colleague, with whom I developped our ideas.