When did you decide to file for a LLC or Incorporate to publish games?

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

I know this isn’t a technical question and is maybe considered boring by some, but I am curious about this. Have you decided to start a company to publish your games under instead of just publishing as a person? Have you considered it?

At what point do you decide its time to become a company.

I come from the web development world, and most (not all) startups will create some type of company to publish their web application, usually for legal reasons.

Is this also the case for indie games? I imagine if you are going to publish a single game, or just a hobbyist that does not charge for a product then maybe it makes sense not to start a company. But what if you plan on publishing 5-10 applications a year, and charge a fee or have in app purchases? Would is then make sense to create a company to publish under?

Please share your thoughts and your experiences.

Thanks in advance!

#2

Hi @sebfloapps,

In my opinion, it somewhat depends on how you want to be “regarded”. There are plenty of indie app developers… some very successful… who simply publish apps under their own name. Sometimes they have many apps published under their name, and that’s fine, since I doubt most end users really care if the app they love is made by “somebody” vs. “some company”. Forming an LLC or similar will, of course, formalize things a bit more and perhaps make your app look more “professional” to end users who care about that, but primarily your decision should be made more for tax purposes, not as much for how your apps will be regarded in the marketplace.

Brent

#3

Just to add on to this.  There are two concerns here:  1. Legal liability and 2. The name that shows in iTunes/Google Play and believe it or not, they are 100% totally different. Let’s start with the LLC.

LLC or Limited Liability Corporation is a way to organize a business that shields your personal assets. For instance, lets say you run a small company making cup cakes. You’re the only owner. You can be a sole propitiator or you can form an LLC. If you are a sole proprietor and you get someone sick with your cup cakes and you get sued, your personal wealth is at risk. If you loose the suit, you can loose your home, money in the bank, etc. If you’re an LLC the most that can be lost in a lawsuit is the assets of the LLC.  Without getting too much into business organizations (discussing partnerships, etc.) this is about as basic an explanation of why you would want an LLC. Only you can decide what the risk that you would be held liable for damages from your app sales and make that decision. It has nothing to do with using a trade name for iTunes.  

For iTunes you can use your name or a business name. To get a business name you have to go to Duns & Bradstreet and get a D-U-N-S number where they take a name you want to trade as and make sure someone else isn’t using that name.  Once you have a DUNS # you can use the business name with Apple. That and the $99 fee seems to be the only requirements (I’m working with my son on getting his indie studio off the ground, so we’ve been researching this).  I’ve never applied for a D-U-N-S number yet but from a quick read, it doesn’t seem that you have to have an LLC, you just have to have researched your trade name to make it free.

See: https://developer.apple.com/support/compare-memberships/

Rob

#4

Thank you so much for your thoughts. My main concern is the name that shows up within the app markets such as itunes and play. But also a concern I have is having a splash screen with a business name on it. It feels risky, if some one registers a name I have been using for publishing games, it could get problematic or at least inconvenience if they demand I change the splash screen on all my games/apps.

I think it might be worth it for protection and tax purposes to file an LLC to publish games/apps under.

#5

Hi @sebfloapps,

In my opinion, it somewhat depends on how you want to be “regarded”. There are plenty of indie app developers… some very successful… who simply publish apps under their own name. Sometimes they have many apps published under their name, and that’s fine, since I doubt most end users really care if the app they love is made by “somebody” vs. “some company”. Forming an LLC or similar will, of course, formalize things a bit more and perhaps make your app look more “professional” to end users who care about that, but primarily your decision should be made more for tax purposes, not as much for how your apps will be regarded in the marketplace.

Brent

#6

Just to add on to this.  There are two concerns here:  1. Legal liability and 2. The name that shows in iTunes/Google Play and believe it or not, they are 100% totally different. Let’s start with the LLC.

LLC or Limited Liability Corporation is a way to organize a business that shields your personal assets. For instance, lets say you run a small company making cup cakes. You’re the only owner. You can be a sole propitiator or you can form an LLC. If you are a sole proprietor and you get someone sick with your cup cakes and you get sued, your personal wealth is at risk. If you loose the suit, you can loose your home, money in the bank, etc. If you’re an LLC the most that can be lost in a lawsuit is the assets of the LLC.  Without getting too much into business organizations (discussing partnerships, etc.) this is about as basic an explanation of why you would want an LLC. Only you can decide what the risk that you would be held liable for damages from your app sales and make that decision. It has nothing to do with using a trade name for iTunes.  

For iTunes you can use your name or a business name. To get a business name you have to go to Duns & Bradstreet and get a D-U-N-S number where they take a name you want to trade as and make sure someone else isn’t using that name.  Once you have a DUNS # you can use the business name with Apple. That and the $99 fee seems to be the only requirements (I’m working with my son on getting his indie studio off the ground, so we’ve been researching this).  I’ve never applied for a D-U-N-S number yet but from a quick read, it doesn’t seem that you have to have an LLC, you just have to have researched your trade name to make it free.

See: https://developer.apple.com/support/compare-memberships/

Rob

#7

Thank you so much for your thoughts. My main concern is the name that shows up within the app markets such as itunes and play. But also a concern I have is having a splash screen with a business name on it. It feels risky, if some one registers a name I have been using for publishing games, it could get problematic or at least inconvenience if they demand I change the splash screen on all my games/apps.

I think it might be worth it for protection and tax purposes to file an LLC to publish games/apps under.