Covering Your Assets

A certain amount of "paranoia" is healthy in any successful endeavor, meaning that while you are basking in the glow of your success, others might be viewing your business with jealous eyes.

In the games industry, as with most other storytelling media, the concept of intellectual property (IP) plays a huge part in your company's success. Your company's value is measured as much by its IP as by its physical assets. Peter Molyneux and Les Edgar became millionaires because of the IP that Bullfrog owned. IP is valuable, but its value can be diluted. In Bullfrog's case, the IP was as much in the branding. At its peak, a Bullfrog game was almost guaranteed high sales solely through the power of the name.

As Bullfrog became increasingly successful, producing a string of hits, Electronic Arts became more interested in the company. Eventually, they bought it lock, stock, and barrel. They paid the original owners and key personnel a lot of money to stay with the company, yet it was clear almost from the beginning that the magic had gone. From the point of view of Bullfrog's IP, the buyout was a failure, since the end result was the end of Bullfrog and the gradual erosion of the brand's value as IP. Soon, the name "Bullfrog" on a game no longer had the cachet it once did.

While the managers did well from the deal financially, they were clearly uncomfortable with what Bullfrog became after the buyout. Consequently, very few of the original members of the company remain there today, yet the original management team is still in the business, having set up new companies.