At Genius Games, most of our games are designed internally. But many of our most loved titles are created in collaboration with incredibly talented outside designers and artists. One of the primary ways we compensate those partners is through royalties, and we wanted to pull back the curtain a bit and share how that works behind the scenes.
We pay royalties quarterly, with payments made by the end of the month following each quarter. That means right now is royalty season for Q4, which ran from October 1 through December 31, 2025, with payments going out by the end of January 2026.
Typically, when a designer signs a licensing agreement with a publisher, they receive an advance on royalties. Advances can vary widely, but in my personal experience I’ve most often seen them fall between $500 and $3,000, depending on the scope and size of the project.
With respect to royalty percentages, again speaking from my own experience in the board game industry, I’ve seen designer royalties range anywhere from 3% to 10%, with 6–7% being the most common. At Genius Games, royalties are generally calculated based on net sales, meaning revenue after any direct sales-channel fees are deducted, as well as any discounts or refunds.
One important detail: royalties are not paid out until the publisher has fully recouped the advance that was paid to the designer upfront.
A Simple Royalty Example
If a game has a $40 MSRP and is sold at full price on Amazon, Amazon takes a 15% channel fee. If the designer’s royalty rate is 7%, the calculation looks like this:
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$40 MSRP - $6 Amazon fee (15% of Amazon Sales)
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$34 net sale
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$34 × 7% = $2.38 royalty per copy
That $2.38 accrues to the designer for each copy sold. However, if the designer received a $1,000 advance, the first ~420 copies sold ($1,000 ÷ $2.38) would go toward recouping that advance. Only after the advance is fully recouped would royalty payments begin going out to the designer.
Some publishers calculate royalties differently depending on sales channel, volume of sales, or other factors. We’ve found that using a simple, flat percentage without exceptions allows our team to calculate royalties quickly and accurately. And this helps ensure designers are paid consistently and on time each quarter.
From an operations standpoint, all of this runs through QuickBooks Online. We generate reports for each game showing monthly sales and monthly units sold, which allows us to produce clear, month-over-month reports, roll everything up into quarterly summaries, and send designers timely payments alongside transparent reports.
It’s not the flashiest part of game publishing, but it’s an important one. Getting this right, and doing it consistently, is something we take seriously. We’re proud of the accounting systems we’ve built to support the designers who help bring Genius Games to life.
