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"'That was a lie.'"
For reference, Mixtape is a game that recently released, and apparently it makes heavy use of licensed music.
The developers claim that they paid "extra" for perpetual licenses. I think that if one feels like they must use licensed music in their video game, then this is the way to do it.
That said, I don't like that doing this is being described as "extra," because I think it should be the absolute bare-ass minimum that all game developers/publishers should do if using licensed music, rather than going the cheap route that ends up with games being lost to the ether forever because of exceedingly dumbshit reasons like "music licenses expiring."
I mean, if nothing else, it could be portrayed as a matter of "sensible" greed, like "Hey, if I pay a little bit more here at the start, my game will continue to exist, and I will be able to continue selling it and making money off of it, because otherwise it would disappear and then I would not be able to continue selling it and making money off of it." Too many developers/publishers go the "idiotic" greed route of cheaping out on the music licenses in order to "save" a little money upfront, though. And if the problem is that one simply can't afford the more expensive perpetual license and can only get the cheap-ass limited license, then here's a little suggestion: maybe don't fucking put goddamned licensed music in your game at all.
(EDIT) Also, I like that the dev for Mixtape is named "Beethoven and Dinosaur" and that the creative director of the game calls himself Johnny Galvatron. (/EDIT)
For reference, Mixtape is a game that recently released, and apparently it makes heavy use of licensed music.
The developers claim that they paid "extra" for perpetual licenses. I think that if one feels like they must use licensed music in their video game, then this is the way to do it.
That said, I don't like that doing this is being described as "extra," because I think it should be the absolute bare-ass minimum that all game developers/publishers should do if using licensed music, rather than going the cheap route that ends up with games being lost to the ether forever because of exceedingly dumbshit reasons like "music licenses expiring."
I mean, if nothing else, it could be portrayed as a matter of "sensible" greed, like "Hey, if I pay a little bit more here at the start, my game will continue to exist, and I will be able to continue selling it and making money off of it, because otherwise it would disappear and then I would not be able to continue selling it and making money off of it." Too many developers/publishers go the "idiotic" greed route of cheaping out on the music licenses in order to "save" a little money upfront, though. And if the problem is that one simply can't afford the more expensive perpetual license and can only get the cheap-ass limited license, then here's a little suggestion: maybe don't fucking put goddamned licensed music in your game at all.
(EDIT) Also, I like that the dev for Mixtape is named "Beethoven and Dinosaur" and that the creative director of the game calls himself Johnny Galvatron. (/EDIT)
no subject
Date: 2026-05-18 09:05 pm (UTC)From:I agree that killing a game because of licensed music expiring is bullshit, but there is still a good solid middle ground that I've seen plenty of games do where they'll just replace licensed music with boring-ass generic in-house or free tracks when the license expires, rather than killing off the game completely.
Not exactly the same situation, but a recent example that I've played would be Hi-Fi Rush which includes two whole-ass soundtracks, one full of licensed music, but the other one is a royalty-free "stream-friendly" soundtrack that's not going to get you dinged if you try streaming the game on Twitch or whatever. I have no clue what their licensing situation is, but if the licensed music license ever does expire that second soundtrack is still gonna be there, and chances are anyone who's still buying the game at that point is more interested in the gameplay than in listening to Nine Inch Nails or whoever during the boss fights.
Of course that assumes that there's anyone left who even knows or cares to patch out the licensed music when it expires, given that Microsoft sacked the whole Tango team two years ago.