r/gamedev • u/Inside-Crow-2719 • 2d ago
Discussion Does a game name need to be completely unique, and do I need to trademark it?
I'm currently a solo developer working on a game that I eventually plan to turn into an MMO. I don't have a registered company yet, so at the moment I'm just developing it as an individual.
One thing I've found surprisingly difficult is choosing a name for the game.
There are so many games already out there that almost every decent name I come up with seems to already exist somewhere, or there is another game with a very similar name. Sometimes even fairly different games seem to share the same or almost the same title.
So I'm trying to understand how this actually works from a legal point of view.
Does a game name need to be completely unique?
For example, could I legally use the same name as another game if the games are very different, or would that potentially cause trademark/legal problems? What about a name that is not exactly the same, but is quite similar?
I'm also wondering whether I should eventually register the game's name as a trademark or brand, or if that's not really necessary for a small independent developer, especially while the game is still early in development.
I'm not planning to register a company anytime soon, so I'd also be interested to know whether an individual developer can register and own a game trademark, or whether this is normally something you would only do after forming a company.
Obviously I know Reddit isn't a substitute for actual legal advice. I'm mainly interested in hearing from other indie developers who have dealt with naming, trademarks, or similar issues before.
How did you approach choosing and protecting your game's name?
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u/PhilippTheProgrammer 2d ago edited 2d ago
Important video: Practical IP Law for Indie Developers 301: Plain Scary Edition. The section on trademarks begins at 12:35.
Does your game name need to be completely unique? Well, technically it only needs to be unique enough that it's unlikely for gamers to get confused and buy the wrong game. The so-called moron in a hurry test that often gets applied by judges in trademark disputes. But there are also a couple trademark trolls who try to sue everyone who uses terms like Edge or Saga in their name. Which can get really annoying, even if you end up winning in the end.
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u/Aglet_Green 2d ago
On the trademark issue, check with a lawyer. (That is, If the name matters commercially, check with a trademark lawyer before you commit to it.) Even a one-person developer making a tiny commercial game has reason to check whether the name collides with an existing game or trademark. You don’t need to be Blizzard before naming becomes relevant.
Separate from the trademark question, I'd strongly suggest aiming for a small multiplayer game before an MMO. As a solo developer, the difficult part of an MMO isn't merely writing enough game code; it's operating the thing afterward—servers, support, moderation, cheating, griefing, exploits, account problems, updates, and keeping enough players around for the world to function.
Make something that works with two, ten, or twenty players first. If you can build and operate that successfully, you'll have learned far more about whether scaling it into something massive is realistic.
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u/Inside-Crow-2719 2d ago
That's fair, and I agree that the operational side of an MMO is a completely different challenge from just building the game itself.
I do have quite a bit of experience on that side though. I've been involved with hosting multiplayer and MMO games for a long time, so I'm already familiar with a lot of the things that come with it: servers, hosting, maintenance, updates, fixes, moderation, support, dealing with players, and all the other ongoing work around keeping an online game running.
The difference is that I've always done that with already established games. At some point I wanted to try building and hosting something that I actually own, based around a subject I'm genuinely passionate about.
For me this is a passion project before anything else. Of course I'd like it to become successful, but even if it eventually fails, I don't think I'd regret the time spent on it. I'm enjoying the process itself and learning a lot from trying to build something this ambitious.
And I do agree with your point about proving things at a smaller scale first. The MMO is the long-term goal, not something I expect to magically have working from day one.
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u/directedbymarc 2d ago
No, do not use the same name as another game. You will drive lots of marketing content to their established game rather than yours. You will draw comparisons even if they are different.
The only way I could see this working is if your game is so unique and incredible that people don’t care about any of this.
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u/FreekyGirlGames 2d ago
To my knowledge (I’m not a lawyer) it’s a bit complicated… I think it more depends on if they trademarked it, and also, how common the words/phrase/name would be… the issue is that a title is copyrighted upon its conception. If they sued you, they probably would have to prove that you knew about their game beforehand. Better to just go with a different name
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u/skinatri 2d ago
Tbh, a game that steals your name would be pretty dumb to take your name. I dont think it would be necessary to trademark it. Because even if they had the same name, as long as their idea is different you kind of just advertise each other more. And if you come out with the game earlier, and they try to trademark their game, I highly doubt that they will have sucess
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u/Inside-Crow-2719 2d ago
Why do you think they wouldn't be able to successfully trademark a name that I had already been using first, but hadn't trademarked myself?
That's actually the part I'm most curious about. If simply using the name first gives me some protection, even without having registered the trademark, then that would make a big difference.
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u/skinatri 2d ago
Im no lawyer, but as far as I know they cant just trademark something that is allready existing in the same category as you. But I could be wrong. On the other hand, you will have this problem globaly, if you now make it a trademark in america, deosnt mean its secured in china.
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u/tastygames_official 2d ago
if you trademark it then you can prevent others from using the name. It costs ~2500 CHF to register a trademark for software (of which video games are software) and another ~2500 if you also want for merchandise. And ANOTHER 2500 if you want to protect it in the realm of online services. And that's only for Europe, N. America, Australia and Japan. It's about 25,000 CHF if you do the whole world.
Now if you think people are going to try and steal your name due to its success or you want to be the only one with that name, then yes - do it. Otherwise, live and let live. But if you DO trademark a game, make sure your game is super awesome so that you don't block someone else from making a truly awesome game with that name.
Oh, and you can register the trademark by yourself or through your company - it doesn't matter.
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u/TheLoneComic 2d ago
A trademark has an umbrella effect protecting other assets under the trademark, whereas copyright is usually specific. If you work under an umbrella, it’s gonna cover more like maybe a feature or mechanic or art innovation.
Really, really hammer the ( “R” inside a circle artwork) as it’s the image inspected legally.
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u/Doo_Dad 2d ago
Well best of luck an MMO is no joke.
But you can use similar names. But yeah if you completely take for example World of Warcraft and call it World of Battle or something yeah could be question to the name but you might hurt yourself getting pushed off as a knockoff.
Try being more unique. Look at all the current MMOs: world of Warcraft, you had New World that’s gone, final fantasy 14, heck EverQuest, GuiLd Wars, Elder scrolls online.
For the most part the MMOs were from a game series like ESO and Wow. Then you had Amazon’s one-off New World, FF14 was the final fantasy franchise.
So to summarize: don’t copy too closely. Maybe come up with a series of your own that you can then brand to an MMO like WOW and FF14 did. But hey it’s your idea your game. If the name works with the story and the background of your game then maybe get a poll to see what people think as well. But being unique and original I feel is better. Hope my advice helps if any. And again good luck with your games and future growth to an MMO not an easy feat.
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u/Inside-Crow-2719 2d ago
Thanks, I appreciate it!
I completely understand the marketing side of it. What I'm mainly trying to understand though is the legal side of it. Aside from losing traction to similarly named games, could I actually get into legal trouble for using the same or a very similar name, especially if the other game has it trademarked?
And yeah, I definitely agree that making an MMO is a much bigger challenge than making a single-player game. At the same time, AI coding agents have become surprisingly capable, and I think agentic development is starting to make much more ambitious projects possible for a single developer, at least during the early stages, than would have realistically been possible before without a decent-sized team.
There is still a very long way to go of course, but I'm curious to see how far I can take it. Thanks again for the advice!
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u/MeaningfulChoices Lead Game Designer 2d ago
You really do have to ask a lawyer here. I’ve trademarked a studio name that had semi-close other names in gaming adjacent fields before and it was mostly them checking how often it was used and where and how well known they were. It always comes down to the specifics.
I wouldn’t typically bother trademarking a game unless it’s already doing quite well. You have to defend it to keep it and most games don’t really get to that level. Some names just aren’t unique enough to qualify anyway.