How to license an educational business simulation game
A practical step-by-step guide
The client usually starts by conducting an initial online search for simulation solutions and tries to evaluate the different options that are made available to them. Online content is made available differently across regions and languages often leading to a research process that is prone to error.
Barriers beside language and content availability include working across multiple timezones. This can lead to poor communication between the client and the simulation company. Indeed in some cases the simulation company might choose not to make available its product in certain regions.
Clients can ask colleagues about the simulations they have used before or even meet with simulation companies at academic conferences. Clients then contact the simulation companies directly to ask for more information and to test their products.
Some tips for clients at the research stage:
- Use your official institution or organization e-mail when contacting simulation companies so as to give more credibility to your request. Include a short description of your course and mention whether you have used simulations in your classes before or not. This will help establish the right tone of conversation.
Some tips for clients at the research stage:
- Make sure to verify that the company selling the simulation actually owns the product or holds a valid reseller agreement. You can ask them to provide a waiver of responsibility by which if it turns out that the company does not own the software or the rights to sell the software they will become responsible for all consequences resulting from their action
Some tips for clients at the research stage:
- Try to seek out well established companies, who hold at least several years of experience in their field and can cater to a large array of service requirements. They might charge more for their services but in general they tend to offer reliable solutions.
- The right to use and employ a high-performance educational technology product
- A complex mix of services made up of internet (online) technologies, simulation software and different media
- The right to get technical and customer assistance in a reasonable time manner
- The right to cancel your order in accordance to each company’s return policy.
Some useful check items when comparing multiple solutions:
- Check if the content renders and functions correctly on mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. In some parts of the world, a mobile phone or a tablet could be a student’s only computer.
Some useful check items when comparing multiple solutions:
- Ask whether you can set up and test your own simulation content. Ideally you will do this after the company presents you with their solutions
Some tips for clients at the research stage:
- Ask what other clients are using this product and try to get an unbiased review from them. You can uncover new information which will help you make a better decision.
Some tips for clients at the research stage:
- If you haven’t found the right solution at your favorite simulation company make sure to ask them about other companies who could provide specific solutions for your needs. The educational simulations industry is still quite small, and companies tend to know other providers in their space.
Once you have found the simulation that is appropriate for your course requirements you will want to ask for a licensing proposal or licensing agreement from the company.
From this document you will learn how the simulation company has chosen to sell access to their software. Currently most simulation companies provide either individual licenses which take into account the number of users, or site-wide licenses by which clients can use the simulation across different faculties and for longer periods of time.
Each licensing agreement should include the terms and conditions under which you can use the software. Some of the items to check off in the licensing proposal: general access and usage rights, licensing conditions and limitations, warranty, support and service.
Additionally, clients will need to ask for a commercial proposal which includes the unitary cost per license as well as the total cost to be paid. There are two widely spread payment methods for licenses: one in which the client pays for the licenses of all the end-users, and the other when the actual user is asked to pay for his/her own individual license. In the latter case, the client acts as intermediary. Each route requires different setup and might affect the final price of the software as well as the terms offered by the simulation company.
Tips for clients at the negotiation stage:
- Ask for the different methods available for payment. The most usual methods for payment are: bank wires, online payment by credit/debit card or using a 3rd party online payment service
Tips for clients at the negotiation stage:
- Ask for a legal binding contract which clearly specifies all the conditions mentioned in the licensing and the commercial proposals
Tips for clients at the negotiation stage:
- Don’t be shy to negotiate the standard price for a license. Simulation companies deal with large volumes of users so it is likely you will get a small discount if your course has a lot of participants
Tips for clients at the negotiation stage:
- Ask about the company’s refund policy
Simbound is the original digital marketing simulation game. Here is how licenses get from our company to end clients.
The product is available online and sold by Apollo Edtech, a limited liability company from Romania, The European Union. Apollo Edtech is the Intelectual Property holder of the simulation content and all of its derivations or product versions. Clients can buy licenses to access and utilize the content directly through the www.simbound.com website or from any of its authorized resellers around the world.
Licensing example:
Simbound comes in two product versions: an older version: this is the first iteration and it is sometimes referred to as the legacy version. It is the world’s first digital marketing simulation game, complete with website simulations, contextual ad campaign simulations and e-mail simulations. This version has basic functionality and is priced in the range of €35 to €60 per license, depending on the volume being ordered by the client.
Licensing example:
The new Simbound Sense version runs on the same simulation engine and adds a multitude of new features. The average price of over €50/license probably makes it one of the most, if not the most expensive educational business simulation game in the world. The Sense version is used in high quality course settings where instructors and students need a reliable and modern solution to enhance teaching and learning.
Please note that neither simulation version is available in the United States of America due to a former reseller who went on to copy our product without our permission.
Later edit: Access will be restored to a list of U.S.A. based educational institutions under new certain conditions starting with the 15th of August 2020.
The current licensing and pricing model works well for most situations. It provides an easy to understand proposal, in which licenses are ordered and used depending on how many participants each course enrolls. It allows flexible and predictable budgeting for course managers and it creates the right environment in which to renew agreements with each new course period.
Even so, we have realized that not every course manager is able to afford this high of a price when wanting to use the latest simulation game technology as part of their courses. Education is a big sector, with gigantic needs, often lacking the corresponding amount of resources to sustain it.
We are now researching an entirely new array of pricing/licensing models which will be rolled out only by means of private invitations addressed to a selected group amongst our valued customers. Keep up to date with the latest simulation news by subscribing to our periodical updates or by following the Simbound account on all major Social Networks.
