

Ask YC: valuating IP of old software games - andreyf

Hi all,<p>How would one go about valuating the source to a game like Blizzard's StarCraft? I don't mean the brand or trademarks, but the game itself - the strategy, balance of the races, etc.<p>Is it protected under copyright law? If one were to clone the game-play (but not the graphics, unit names, etc), would it violate Blizzard's IP?
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patio11
_How would one go about valuating the source to a game like Blizzard's
StarCraft?_

It is difficult, in general, to place a value on things which cannot be sold.
In this specific, a) Blizzard will not sell that source code for all the tea
in China and b) the value of it to a legitimate company is very limited, since
its only real economic utility is to clone Starcraft and they can't legally do
that under your stipulation.

In general: _expressions_ are subject to copyright, ideas are not. You can
make your own poorly marketed and grossly inferior I-can't-believe-its-not-
Starcraft any time you please. (A fact which Blizzard famously exploited
against another company which had this idea for fantasy and space opera games
prior to negotiations falling through.)

