Factor Five's Julian Eggebrecht, following what's started as a shaky response to Lair, has reassessed his position on licensing IPs. Addressing a crowd in roundtable discussion, here was his experiential advice.

Before starting Lair we said we would never use a licensed IP again, but now I'd pray to do one...[but] if you have a small idea...absolutely grab that opportunity.

It seems like the balance of risk to gain for developers could stop this new market craving for big budget original IPs just as quickly as it's started. Meanwhile, original IPs can easily take off on a platform like XBLA—and it's a heck of a shorter fall if things don't work out.

But if Eggebrecht ships a million copies of Lair, we'll see if he changes his tune and dragons triumph over X-Wings once again.

Contact information for this author is not available.