External development is now essential to game production—but many partnerships fail quietly, expensively, or catastrophically. This panel examines real examples of failed or derailed external development partnerships, focusing not on blame, but on where and why the deal broke down.

Through candid discussion, two/three studios will unpack partnerships that didn’t work as intended: mismatched expectations, unclear ownership, production blind spots, cultural friction, or flawed deal structures. The mediator guides the conversation toward actionable lessons studios can apply to future collaborations.

Key Topics:
– What “failure” actually looked like (scope collapse, missed milestones, canceled contracts)
– Early warning signs that were ignored
– Deal structures that incentivized the wrong behavior
– Communication breakdowns between internal and external teams
– Power imbalance between publisher and partner studios
– How accountability and decision-making failed
– What each studio would do differently today

Why This Topic Matters:
External development is increasing, but postmortems rarely happen publicly
Most studios repeat the same mistakes due to lack of transparency
This session replaces abstract advice with hard-earned, lived experience