We at Blob Games Studios noticed a few people mentioning third party characters and what characters we might consider viable for IGB. This led us to realize that we should explain what we consider to be the minimum requirements for getting a character accepted for the game clearer so people have an idea of what we might add and what we might not add.
First off, let us begin by explaining that we're not picky on third parties. Almost all of our third parties so far lack a big fanbase. some examples of this are Missileman and Artist. Some characters might not even be in a publicly released game yet, such as the previously mentioned Artist character. We also have a character called Gip in IGB which is from one of our own studio's future projects, so the character's game doesn't have to be released, at least not yet.
But if we'll try to summarize the minimum requirements for a third party guest character, we'd probably make a simple list to make it as easy to understand as possible. So this is what we consider to be the minimum requirements of getting a character accepted for Indie Game Battle.
- The character must be from a video game.
- The character must be indie.
- We must be able to get the rights to use the character(s).
- The character must appeal to us.
And last, but not least...
- Everyone on our team must agree on all points.
If any of this remains vague or confusing, I will go into detail about each point below.
"The character must be from a video game."
This means that the character must be a video game character, and not from some other genre.
It can be a planned one and it doesn't need to be released yet, but we prefer it to be either released or at least very likely to be released in the future. Though, cancelled games can be accepted in certain cases. But it means no characters from outside video games, such as a comic, movie, etc.
"The character must be indie."
This means the character must come from an indie game made by one or more independent developers. This means no characters like Mario, Sonic, etc. Even though big companies would be cool, IGB promotes indie games, not the other way around. This applies a little bit to the next point too, which is...
"We must be able to get the rights to use the character(s)."
If we can't get the rights to use a character or contact the people who own the rights at all, we probably won't use the character. This is the biggest issue of getting a character into IGB if we want a character into the game. It's also the biggest issue with getting hold of known indie characters from games such as Shovel Knight. If we can't get the rights, we won't take risks and involve ourselves with legal issues either. And out of respect, we'll never use a character if the owner(s) doesn't agree.
"The character must appeal to us."
This is a touchy subject, but if we consider the character uninteresting or generic, we might not consider adding him/her. This means that the character should be recognizeable and iconic. And if a character can also boast with a unique play style with a special moveset, that is also a big plus.
"Everyone on our team must agree."
This means that all team members here at Blob Games Studios must agree that the character is good. If I personally think a character is viable, but anyone else on the team disagrees with this, the character most likely won't make an appearance. We respect eachother and as a team we make decisions together, regardless of each member's personal opinion on a character.
With that said, we hope this makes it clearer as far as accepting characters go. Also, please remember that we're not at all strict, and we rarely really decline a character if we have the chance to use one. If using a character is up to us and the character fits the requirements, we'll rarely go and decline. 
Also, if you have a character you think could work well in Indie Game Battle, please go ahead and suggest it to any of our team members. It doesn't have to be one of your own characters if you have any, it can be a suggestion of a character from a game that simple impressed you and such.
We appreciate if you can provide a way to get the rights to the character if it isn't your own though, but it's not needed.
For the record, our team members are me (FelixBlobDev), SpaghettiBasDev and PolishedBrain. Feel free to refer to any of us if you have a suggestion you believe might work!
Hopefully this helps. Happy suggesting!
