By Mark Seavy  

In a market where thousands of quality videogame titles vie for attention, developers are turning to licensing. 

For many of these videogames, brand recognition is finding equal footing with gameplay in terms of the metrics that matter. But with more development tools available and artificial intelligence-assisted pipelines creating lower barriers to entry, getting discovered by consumers is more difficult than ever—especially in the mobile category.  

In 2024 alone, for example, 1.3 million mobile titles were released across Google Play and Apple’s iOS. 

In an effort to raise their brand profiles, many developers are turning to licensing. Industry leaders like Sony Interactive, Microsoft (and now Activision Blizzard), Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and Epic Games have long had licensing programs. But now, in response to divided consumer attention and soaring costs, licensing has reached the same level of importance as game strategy and development cycles. 

Supercell (World of Clash, Brawl Stars) and CD Projekt Red (Cyberpunk 2077), for example, both took space at the recent Licensing Expo in Las Vegas to promote their licensing programs. They joined Scott Cawthorn’s Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise at the tradeshow, which is represented by Striker Entertainment in an alliance that has resulted in licensing agreements as well as two blockbuster films.  

“The money and the collectors have been there and that continues to be the case,” said Amanda Klesko, Senior Licensing Manager at CD Projekt Red, which launched a Kickstarter campaign with licensee WierdCo for a trading card game that so far has raised $28.3 million and will be released in December. “Licensing is a good window to keep your brand relevant and out there while the games are being developed.”  

This includes the next version of Cyberpunk 2077, which is due in 2029-2030. Until that next gaming touchpoint is available to fans, the company has also licensed Go on Board for Cyberpunk 2077: The Board Game, which is to be released later this year. And, in an effort to maintain a steady drumbeat of new releases, CD Projekt Red has also been focused on The Witcher 4 title, which is in production and due in 2027 at the earliest.  

Supercell, meanwhile, hired WildBrain CPLG to represent The World of Clash in 2023 and expanded the partnership to include Brawl Stars a year later. The program has produced several licensing agreements, including one with Spin Master Corp. for collectibles and other toys. The program is part of an effort to expand Supercell’s top titles beyond games and into film and television content, consumer products, and location-based experiences. 

“We took some time to build the internal capabilities to power up that [licensing] vision,” Andrea Fasulo, Head of Global Licensing at Supercell, told License Global. “Licensing has not yet fully leveraged all the possibilities when it comes to gaming IP, especially in mobile. I am excited to see how we at Supercell can change that.” 

And the in-roads in licensing being made by some of these standalone game developers have not gone unnoticed by their larger, multi-category competitors. In fact, many companies that previously licensed out their IPs for the videogame category are now focused on internal development efforts.  

Hasbro launched an internal game development effort and plans to release its first title, Exodus, in early 2027, while also continuing licensing with the likes of Scopely, whose Monopoly Go! mobile title is generating an average of $12-$14 million in monthly revenue.  

Mattel, meanwhile, worked with Amber Studios in releasing Skeletor: Until the Next Time on June 2, its first self-published game. And Paramount is revamping its videogame business in forming Paramount Games Studio to develop titles based on its IPs. Paramount has licensed Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Sega for games based on its properties in the past. 

“This division launch marks a meaningful evolution in how we think about games—not as an extension of our business, but as a core pillar of our content strategy alongside film, television, and streaming,” Tony Driscoll, President of Paramount Games Studio, said in a statement.