Naming video games and game studios
Naming a video game is the process of selecting a title that simultaneously sells the product to the audience, works in search, and is legally protectable. Studio naming solves a different task: it builds a long-term umbrella brand under which not just one, but dozens of games will be released. Confusing these two processes is the main reason why developers waste time and money on rebranding after release.
What types of names exist and which ones actually work
Practice divides game titles into several categories, and each has its own set of pros and risks.
| Type of name | Example of logic | Strength and weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Descriptive | «Race Pro» | Clearly understandable at first glance, but legally unprotected — a clone with the suffix «Pro» or «2» does not infringe on rights |
| Action name | «Jump and Shoot» | Good for casual projects, weak distinctive capability |
| Atmospheric | «Shadows of the Forgotten Forest» | Creates mood, medium level of protectability |
| Abbreviation | DOOM, CS | Easy to remember, but hard to register without additional elements |
| Fantasy (made-up word) | Tetris, Valorant | Maximum legal protection, requires effort to promote from scratch |
| Arbitrary (real word not related to the topic) | Apple for software, similarly for games | Strong protection, easily remembered due to unexpectedness |
Names with unique, non-dictionary elements usually convert better than descriptive ones. Effective names often contain 3-4 words, and a structure of multiple parts separated by a colon, hyphen, or vertical bar (e.g., 'Entity: Subtitle') consistently attracts more attention because the first part works as a brand, and the second as a clarifying hook for search.
Legal check: how not to repeat the path of «Scrolls»
The most illustrative case is the lawsuit filed by Bethesda against the developer of the card game «Scrolls». The software giant considered the name too similar to their The Elder Scrolls series and succeeded in changing the name, even though the games were of completely different genres. The lesson is simple: similarity is not assessed only by full matching, but by three lines — phonetic, visual, and semantic. If a name sounds similar, looks similar, or associates with the same semantic field as someone else's registered mark, that is already a risk.
Pre-launch checking is conducted in several steps:
- Searching for exact and similar matches in trademark registries — primarily in 9-class of the Nice Classification (software and games) and 41-class (entertainment and educational services).
- Phonetic similarity analysis — whether the name sounds similar to existing brands by ear.
- Visual assessment — how the name would look in a logo, whether it would visually blend with a competitor.
- Semantic proximity evaluation — whether the name refers to someone else's already popular universe or mechanics.
- Legal assessment of registrability — whether the name is descriptive (weak protection) or fanciful/arbitrary (strong protection).
Descriptive names are the most legally vulnerable option. If a game is literally named after what it does, a competitor can release a clone with a nearly identical name and incur no liability, because a descriptive term lacks distinctive character. This is exactly why major studios almost never use pure description — they either invent a word or take an existing one but outside its usual context.
SEO and memorability do not contradict each other
Developers often believe that a name should either be bright or a 'keyword' for search. This is a false dilemma. A working formula is a multi-part name: a short, memorable brand name plus a clarifying part that covers the search query. This structure gave birth to many games with the format «{name}: {mechanics or setting}» — the first part is unique and protected, while the second captures traffic through genre- and theme-based queries.
The working name for the add-on «Blood and Wine» was the short technical abbreviation «BoB» (Bells of Beauclair). The final name was chosen in the middle of development — the team consciously sought a more resonant and easily pronounceable variant, because the game is being released simultaneously on dozens of language markets. The add-on itself was developed for seven months (from October 2015 to May 2016).
A similar logic worked for the Yakut studio, which renamed the project «Hara Myraan» to Kindawn: The Parish Remembers — foreign players found it physically difficult to pronounce and remember the original name. At the same time, the developers did not completely abandon local identity: the original name remained inside the game as part of the lore and cultural context, while the pronounceable international name went on the marketing materials.
How does studio naming fundamentally differ from game naming
The name of the game lives one-shot — it serves a specific product, is tied to its setting, mechanics, and audience of a specific release. The studio name lives for decades and must work for several, often very different projects at once.
- The game name can be narrow and genre-specific — the studio name must be sufficiently universal to accommodate both a dark role-playing epic and a light mobile arcade.
- The game name is sold by marketing of one release — the studio name builds a reputation that transfers from project to project and works as a guarantee of quality.
- A game can be named fantasy and take a risk — a studio is usually named so that the name is easily pronounced by investors, publishers, and press in different markets without adaptation.
- Legal protection of the studio is more critical: it is not only a trademark, but also a corporate name, a domain name, and accounts in digital stores — the entire package of digital identity.
A common mistake of indie teams is to name the studio after the first successful game. When the next project turns out to be in a completely different genre, the audience gets confused, and the studio brand does not accumulate equity because it is not perceived as a separate entity.
Typical mistakes when choosing a name
Most failures in game naming repeat from project to project:
- Choosing a purely descriptive name without checking its registrability — the result: vulnerability to clones.
- Skipping the classification check under the MKTU system before launching a marketing campaign — renaming after the announcement costs many times more.
- Ignoring phonetics for international markets — a hard-to-pronounce name cuts organic reach in the English-speaking segment.
- Too long a name — as demonstrated by the case of 'A Time of Axe and Sword', a loud literary phrase does not work well as a brand.
- Changing the studio's name from game to game — blurs accumulated reputation instead of strengthening it.
The average development time for an indie project is approximately 27 months, and naming should be planned not in the final weeks before release, but in the first year, simultaneously with prototyping. AI currently really accelerates the generation of options, but works well only with a detailed brief — genre, setting, key mechanics, and knowledge of local linguistic specifics, including undesirable rhymes and associations on target markets. The final decision still has to go through legal verification — otherwise, a beautiful name invented in one evening can cost the studio half a year in legal expenses.
Naming a video game is the process of selecting a title that simultaneously sells the product to the audience, works in search, and is legally protectable. Studio naming solves a different task: it builds a long-term umbrella brand under which not just one, but dozens of games will be released. Confusing these two processes is the main reason why developers waste time and money on rebranding after release.
What types of names exist and which ones actually work
Practice divides game titles into several categories, and each has its own set of pros and risks.
| Type of name | Example of logic | Strength and weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Descriptive | «Race Pro» | Clearly understandable at first glance, but legally unprotected — a clone with the suffix «Pro» or «2» does not infringe on rights |
| Action name | «Jump and Shoot» | Good for casual projects, weak distinctive capability |
| Atmospheric | «Shadows of the Forgotten Forest» | Creates mood, medium level of protectability |
| Abbreviation | DOOM, CS | Easy to remember, but hard to register without additional elements |
| Fantasy (made-up word) | Tetris, Valorant | Maximum legal protection, requires effort to promote from scratch |
| Arbitrary (real word not related to the topic) | Apple for software, similarly for games | Strong protection, easily remembered due to unexpectedness |
Names with unique, non-dictionary elements usually convert better than descriptive ones. Effective names often contain 3-4 words, and a structure of multiple parts separated by a colon, hyphen, or vertical bar (e.g., 'Entity: Subtitle') consistently attracts more attention because the first part works as a brand, and the second as a clarifying hook for search.
Legal check: how not to repeat the path of «Scrolls»
The most illustrative case is the lawsuit filed by Bethesda against the developer of the card game «Scrolls». The software giant considered the name too similar to their The Elder Scrolls series and succeeded in changing the name, even though the games were of completely different genres. The lesson is simple: similarity is not assessed only by full matching, but by three lines — phonetic, visual, and semantic. If a name sounds similar, looks similar, or associates with the same semantic field as someone else's registered mark, that is already a risk.
Pre-launch checking is conducted in several steps:
- Searching for exact and similar matches in trademark registries — primarily in 9-class of the Nice Classification (software and games) and 41-class (entertainment and educational services).
- Phonetic similarity analysis — whether the name sounds similar to existing brands by ear.
- Visual assessment — how the name would look in a logo, whether it would visually blend with a competitor.
- Semantic proximity evaluation — whether the name refers to someone else's already popular universe or mechanics.
- Legal assessment of registrability — whether the name is descriptive (weak protection) or fanciful/arbitrary (strong protection).
Descriptive names are the most legally vulnerable option. If a game is literally named after what it does, a competitor can release a clone with a nearly identical name and incur no liability, because a descriptive term lacks distinctive character. This is exactly why major studios almost never use pure description — they either invent a word or take an existing one but outside its usual context.
SEO and memorability do not contradict each other
Developers often believe that a name should either be bright or a 'keyword' for search. This is a false dilemma. A working formula is a multi-part name: a short, memorable brand name plus a clarifying part that covers the search query. This structure gave birth to many games with the format «{name}: {mechanics or setting}» — the first part is unique and protected, while the second captures traffic through genre- and theme-based queries.
The working name for the add-on «Blood and Wine» was the short technical abbreviation «BoB» (Bells of Beauclair). The final name was chosen in the middle of development — the team consciously sought a more resonant and easily pronounceable variant, because the game is being released simultaneously on dozens of language markets. The add-on itself was developed for seven months (from October 2015 to May 2016).
A similar logic worked for the Yakut studio, which renamed the project «Hara Myraan» to Kindawn: The Parish Remembers — foreign players found it physically difficult to pronounce and remember the original name. At the same time, the developers did not completely abandon local identity: the original name remained inside the game as part of the lore and cultural context, while the pronounceable international name went on the marketing materials.
How does studio naming fundamentally differ from game naming
The name of the game lives one-shot — it serves a specific product, is tied to its setting, mechanics, and audience of a specific release. The studio name lives for decades and must work for several, often very different projects at once.
- The game name can be narrow and genre-specific — the studio name must be sufficiently universal to accommodate both a dark role-playing epic and a light mobile arcade.
- The game name is sold by marketing of one release — the studio name builds a reputation that transfers from project to project and works as a guarantee of quality.
- A game can be named fantasy and take a risk — a studio is usually named so that the name is easily pronounced by investors, publishers, and press in different markets without adaptation.
- Legal protection of the studio is more critical: it is not only a trademark, but also a corporate name, a domain name, and accounts in digital stores — the entire package of digital identity.
A common mistake of indie teams is to name the studio after the first successful game. When the next project turns out to be in a completely different genre, the audience gets confused, and the studio brand does not accumulate equity because it is not perceived as a separate entity.
Typical mistakes when choosing a name
Most failures in game naming repeat from project to project:
- Choosing a purely descriptive name without checking its registrability — the result: vulnerability to clones.
- Skipping the classification check under the MKTU system before launching a marketing campaign — renaming after the announcement costs many times more.
- Ignoring phonetics for international markets — a hard-to-pronounce name cuts organic reach in the English-speaking segment.
- Too long a name — as demonstrated by the case of 'A Time of Axe and Sword', a loud literary phrase does not work well as a brand.
- Changing the studio's name from game to game — blurs accumulated reputation instead of strengthening it.
The average development time for an indie project is approximately 27 months, and naming should be planned not in the final weeks before release, but in the first year, simultaneously with prototyping. AI currently really accelerates the generation of options, but works well only with a detailed brief — genre, setting, key mechanics, and knowledge of local linguistic specifics, including undesirable rhymes and associations on target markets. The final decision still has to go through legal verification — otherwise, a beautiful name invented in one evening can cost the studio half a year in legal expenses.
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