Ahead of the 2023 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, Pryor Cashman Partners Briana Hill and Simon Pulman discussed their plans to attend the March 20-24 event, how the firm's Interactive, Gaming + Technology Group is expanding to better serve the industry, and what they're looking to accomplish on behalf of clients in the months following the conference.
Why are you attending GDC this year?
Simon: Over the last several years, GDC has grown in scope and importance, and we keep hearing from clients and industry contacts who want to know if we're going to attend. Following our joining Pryor Cashman earlier this year, the weight and number of those inquiries grew to a point where it felt imperative to be there! At the same time, in the last few years, our clients and our practice have evolved in ways that cross over into the gaming space more regularly. GDC is an opportunity to learn about the latest developments in our current clients' businesses, meet new people in the industry, and have fruitful conversations about our expanded capabilities and how our firm can provide a range of services to these interesting and innovative companies.
What is the firm doing in the gaming and interactive space?
Briana: We take a strategic approach in providing a holistic range of services for developers, publishers, financiers, and other companies in the gaming ecosystem at each stage of their lifecycle. Our Corporate Group provides financing and M+A services, from seed financing to exit strategies. Across the Intellectual Property and Media + Entertainment Groups, we're negotiating development, publishing, and licensing and merchandising agreements; developing IP portfolio growth and protection strategies; and providing privacy and compliance counsel. On the "people" side of things, our Labor + Employment Group handles executive compensation and related issues, and the Immigration Group covers immigration and global mobility. This is all backed with one of the top IP litigation groups in the country.
In addition to these "core" areas, our Media + Entertainment Group is a leader in sophisticated "transmedia" entertainment deals, and we are among the most experienced firms in the country in negotiating game-to-film/TV rights deals. In the other direction, we also work with video game companies that want to expand into the entertainment business and have control over how their IP is presented in other media.
How do you see the Interactive, Gaming + Technology Group evolving over the next year or so?
Simon: The video game business continues to expand, and as a firm we are expanding our offering to service companies across the gaming ecosystem. We are highly pragmatic dealmakers, and we work with clients to efficiently and cost-effectively protect their IP, mitigate risk, and solve problems-as well as helping them forge into other business areas to build their brands. Our whole team is working to marshal Pryor Cashman's capabilities across practices-corporate dealmaking, IP litigation, immigration, trademark prosecution, etc.-at reasonable rates and with teams that are directly accessible to each client. As a huge fan of games and the games industry myself, I am truly excited for the future.
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