Square Enix owns IP rights of People Can Fly's new Project Gemini game

Square Enix will retain IP and publishing rights to People Can Fly's new game Project Gemini, new financial documents reveal.

Today we reported that Outriders wasn't profitable in 2021, and that People Can Fly didn't receive royalty payments from the game throughout the year. As per the contract agreement People Can Fly signed with Square Enix, the developer surrendered both IP and publishing rights to the Outriders franchise and will not receive post-release compensation until the game makes a profit.

The same terms will apply to People Can Fly's new game Project Gemini, which is also being published, marketed, and distributed by Square Enix. The Japanese publisher will own all IP and publishing rights to Project Gemini just like it does with Outriders. People Can Fly signed the Project Gemini agreement with Square Enix in 2020.

"Project Gemini is a Triple-A game that is being developed in partnership with the publisher Square Enix Limited. Its scale is comparable to that of Outriders. The Group expects that the game will reach completion by the end of 2024," People Can Fly wrote in its 2021 financial report.

"The provisions of the agreement relating to its scope, mutual obligations of the parties, the game development approach, the forms and method of payment of consideration due to the Company and People Can Fly UK Limited, the right of first negotiation regarding the terms of development of game-related products, as well as the IP ownership, do not differ materially from those set out in the development and publishing agreement for Outriders."