Some players try to hold their own little events and tournaments for an online game in their local area. The problem is, most companies don’t allow communities to hold unofficial tournaments for their games.
It’s a serious issue that those who hold illegal tournament may even face legal problems.
Luckily there are companies that allow for these kinds of tournament and event as long as guidelines are followed. Publisher Electronic Arts recently released a tournament guideline for Apex Legends community.
This is to provide players what they need to do if they wish to avoid facing EA’s legal department. As long as all guidelines are followed, players have the freedom to hold as much tournament as they want.
It’s fairly short and simple with eight main points that need to be followed. The first guideline says that the game should not be used for commercial profit. It’s common sense that these companies wouldn’t want others to generate revenue from their own work.
Holding a tournament requires the team behind it to incur some costs. The monetization plans, however, should only be for covering those costs, and not to generate commercial profit.
The second point prevents people from using the trademarks, logos, artwork, and even the name of EA. Those who want to promote their tournament should avoid affiliating EA in any way. They need to make it clear that they are not endorsed, approved, or even affiliated with EA.
The third requires the tournament, the team behind it, and the participants to comply with the EA User Agreement. The guideline also lists down the prohibited partners and sponsors of the tournament.
Sponsors and partners of the tournament shouldn’t promote or sell any items or services that are related to the list. The list includes weapons or explosives, medical devices or substances, tobacco, alcohol, online dating, and sexually explicit materials. Partners and sponsors should not also be connected with gambling or political ads.
It includes service or product that is inconsistent with the age rating assigned to Apex Legends in a given country.
The total revenue generated from streaming in any and all platforms should not be more than $10,000 or equivalent. Broadcasting the tournament on TV by the team behind the tournament or anyone is prohibited.
The sixth point state that the prize pool should be fixed prior to the start of the tournament. The total value of the prize pool for all events in a year should not exceed $10,000 or equivalent.
The guideline allows setting an entry fee for the tournament. But it should not exceed $20 or equivalent for each participant.
Furthermore, it should only be used to cover the cost of the tournament and not to generate revenue. Lastly, the guideline states that all contributions from crowdfunding should go directly to the prize pool or the participants.
The who have questions or request regarding any points of the guideline may directly contact EA at APEXLEGENDSLICENSEREQUESTS@EA.COM.
