Security issues for third party games: Technical, business and legal perspectives

There has been a substantial rise in security incidents for the multi-billion dollar, worldwide computer gaming industry. As the industry has grown, games are not just developed and operated by one company, but include multiple support, development, publishing, and other partners. This article will discuss how to include technical, business, and legal security issues in the game development process to manage security risks. This article also will discuss potential “long tail” opportunities, which game publishers and developers have not fully exploited or considered in their games, such as secondary commercial games licensing and other developmental and licensing strategies that would benefit from managing security issues early in the developmental lifecycle.