LegalPCF Group
Current Report No. 22/2023: Development and Publishing Agreement with Microsoft Corporation
28 Feb 20261 pages~1 min full read
People Can Fly (PCF Group S.A.) signed a development and publishing agreement with Microsoft Corporation on June 13, 2023, to produce a new AAA title codenamed Project Maverick.
The project operates under a work-for-hire framework where Microsoft retains ownership of the intellectual property.
Microsoft will provide a total production budget ranging from $30 million to $50 million to cover the full development cycle.
Funding is structured through a milestone-based payment system, ensuring all production costs are covered by the publisher to mitigate financial risk for the developer.
The agreement aligns with People Can Fly’s corporate strategy to balance internal projects with high-value collaborative work for major industry publishers.
The contract terms are described as standard for the industry, with no unusual conditions or deviations from typical AAA publishing agreements.
PCF Group S.A., operating under the People Can Fly brand, has entered into a significant development and publishing agreement with Microsoft Corporation to produce a new AAA video game currently titled Project Maverick. This partnership, formalized on June 13, 2023, establishes a work-for-hire framework where the studio develops the title using intellectual property owned by Microsoft. The agreement aligns with the studio’s updated corporate strategy to pursue high-value collaborative opportunities with major industry publishers alongside its own internal projects.
The financial scope of the project is substantial, with Microsoft providing a total production budget ranging between $30 million and $50 million. Funding is structured around a milestone-based payment system, where the publisher provides capital as the studio completes specific stages of development outlined in a detailed product appendix. This arrangement ensures that the entirety of the production costs is covered by the publisher, mitigating financial risk for the developer while securing a high-budget project for its production pipeline.
The scope of this agreement covers the full development cycle of the game, though specific release windows or geographic target markets are not disclosed. The terms of the contract are described as standard for the industry, containing no unusual conditions or deviations from typical AAA publishing agreements. By securing this contract, People Can Fly reinforces its position as a leading global developer capable of handling large-scale, high-budget productions for major platform holders, leveraging its technical expertise within a secure financial framework provided by one of the industry's largest entities.
