Competition for a game. Free entry, $10k prizepool, legal?

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by s0ckman, Dec 11, 2014.

  1. s0ckman

    s0ckman Member

    Dec 4, 2013
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    Game Developer
    Australia
    Hi guys,

    We are thinking about promoting a competition to help launch our mobile game.
    The prizepool will be ~$10,000 USD and it will be free to enter.
    It will be available worldwide and the winner will be paid through PayPal.

    The winners will be decided based on skill - how well they score in our game.
    We will verify results through Apple's Game Center.

    My question is:
    Is this legal and are there any fees/forms/certificates I need to attain to promote this competition?

    Thanks!
     
  2. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
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    This depends on where you live and which countries you include.

    However no entry fee will help however you will have rampant cheating in game centre quickly.
     
  3. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
    12,747
    543
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    England
    I agree. With such a high priced prize there'll be cheating galore

    I would think of another way personally and not trust game centre scores which in the past have been proven to have hacked scores etc
     
  4. OnlyJoe

    OnlyJoe Well-Known Member

    Sep 29, 2013
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    Auckland
    Yeah I agree with everyone else, it is easy to hack game centre scores. Infact it is pretty easy to hack any game score system unless it is a server based game. Otherwise you can easily play with the memory on a jailbroken phone and set the score to whatever you like.

    If you look at the submission guidelines for the app store: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/

    Section 20 is all about running contests with prizes.

    20.2 : Official rules for sweepstakes and contests must be presented in the App and make it clear that Apple is not a sponsor or involved in the activity in any manner

    I would also take this to mean that you cannot use game center as the way you will be deciding a winner. As this would be involving apple in your contest. So your app would probably be rejected if this is the case.
     
  5. Xammond

    Xammond Well-Known Member

    Mar 22, 2014
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    UK
    Seems you can offer virtual prizes though.

    As for cheats, I was enjoying time trials (RR3) until my fully upgraded limited edition car had a spaceship overtake it at the (rolling) start line! Clearly impossible.
     
  6. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
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    I think if you charged for the app, it would be the same as charging an entry fee in most countries. So for this sort of thing you would need the app to be free (and nothing you could buy like an IAP to improve your odds) although I assume ads would be fine.
     

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