Bugged Out

By Colin Powell Business Development Manager

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Bugs, glitches, and last-minute crashes are part of game development life. But what if a bug doesn’t just annoy players, it leads to serious consequences for a client, a partner, or your business?

Welcome to the world of professional liability where a single line of faulty code can trigger legal claims, lost income and sleepless nights.

Let’s explore how coding errors can land developers in hot water, and why Professional Indemnity insurance is your first line of defence when things go sideways.

The risks aren’t just hypothetical

You might think, “We’re a small indie team. Who’s going to sue us?” But claims don’t just happen to the AAA studios. UK-based developers of all sizes are vulnerable, especially those working with clients, publishers or funded projects.

Here are a few real-world scenarios:

The broken build: A client pays you to develop a game or feature. You deliver it, but a critical bug causes the game to malfunction or become unplayable on release. The client claims financial loss and comes knocking for compensation.
The feature that fails: You promise certain functionality (like multiplayer, in-app purchases or cloud saves) but it doesn’t work properly at launch. A publisher, or user base, complains and you’re accused of breach of contract or negligence.
The unexpected glitch: A user claims your game caused their console or device to crash repeatedly, or that it led to personal data loss. Even if the claim is exaggerated or false, you still need to defend it.

Where Professional Indemnity insurance comes in…

Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance is designed specifically for situations where your work (in this case, your code, game mechanics, or even your advice) causes someone to suffer a financial loss or reputational hit.

Here’s what it can cover:

Legal defence costs (whether or not the claim is valid)
Compensation or settlements if you’re found liable
Claims of negligence, breach of contract, or professional errors
Allegations of IP infringement if you accidentally use copyrighted content

In short, PI insurance has your back when your game, or your client’s trust in it, doesn’t go as planned.

Why Contracts aren’t a magical shield…

You might have solid contracts or end-user agreements in place, which is great, but contracts don’t prevent claims, they just give you a foundation to defend against them and legal defence costs money.

PI insurance means you don’t have to burn through your budget or delay development just to protect yourself in court.

It’s not just about mistakes, either…

Here’s the kicker, you don’t have to actually be at fault for someone to make a claim.

A disgruntled publisher might think your patch rollout cost them revenue. A player might blame your game for corrupting their saved data. Even if you know it’s not your fault, you still need to prove it and that costs time and money.

PI insurance steps in to handle the stress and cost of that process.

Who needs this cover?

You should seriously consider PI cover if:

You take on client work or freelance development
You work with publishers or investors
You promise features or delivery deadlines as part of a contract
You create tools, engines, mods, or game assets for others
You want to protect your business from a single claim ruining your finances

It’s particularly useful for UK-based devs working in a B2B capacity, whether on full games, components or services.

Bugs are inevitable but being unprepared for the fallout isn’t. Professional Indemnity insurance gives you the peace of mind that if your code causes chaos, it won’t take your studio down with it. Think of it as your real-world patch against legal and financial damage.

A necessary and vitally important insurance cover for game developers, we think so.

Be Proactive, Not Reactive.

Get in touch with on our team today to find out how we can help you give us a call on 0208 256 4949 or visit our Gaming page.

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