Video gaming has long since overtaken other entertainment industries in terms of revenue generation, with Newzoo projecting the industry to have been worth $189bn in 2025.
The Game Awards, the video game industry's year-end celebration, broke viewership records with an estimated 171 million global livestreams of the full broadcast, up 11% on 2024. Video gaming is projected to only get bigger and drive even broader and deeper engagement with fans.
The industry is now nearly 50 years old and has built its enduring success by making games for all ages and interests and by being available on multiple platforms, the most lucrative now being mobile phones - worth $100bn+, over 50% of the market.
Licensing has always had a place in video gaming, but not one as established or lucrative as movies or TV. But as gaming IPs become bigger, this year's Grand Theft Auto VI launch could well be the biggest entertainment launch of all time, and become well embedded in popular culture through film and TV shows, as well as longevity, video game IPs could well be the next big licensing opportunity.
As gaming has become more social and games are played for longer, through constant updates, expansion packs and new downloadable content, the window for selling licensed products based on them has been elongated. This is even more important when you consider games are much more likely than movies to have their release dates pushed back, sometimes multiple times. GTA VI has been delayed twice, now slated to come out in November this year, but fans are not optimistic there won’t be a third delay. These regular moves in release dates have often put off potential licensees, however, with games now having more longevity there is a much longer window to sell licensed products than the average theatrical movie release. This means it's not as important, as it is with films, to have products on shelf weeks before the release.
So there are potentially huge incremental opportunities for licensed products and partnerships in the video games space.
In 2026 alone there are opportunities around:
- Brand anniversaries such as Zelda, Castlevania, Quake, Sonic, Pokemon and Animal Crossing
- New game releases such as Grand Theft Auto VI, 007 First Light and a new Resident Evil game.
- Movie releases based on gaming IPs such as Street Fighter, Roblox, Super Mario Galaxy and Mortal Kombat 2.
And looking forward to 2027:
- There is a second Minecraft movie, a third Angry Birds movie, a fourth Sonic movie, and the first Zelda movie as well
- The 30th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto and the 40th anniversary of Final Fantasy.
- New game releases will hopefully include The Witcher 4, Tomb Raider Catalyst, Exodus and a new Call of Duty.
So if video games aren’t currently part of your licensing mix, its probably time to start taking a look at some of these great opportunities.