When your brand needs taking to the next level is a blockbuster video game or high viewed TV show the best route to go? Although every brand would ideally like both, either can be incredibly tough to get off the ground. So which route is the best to go? And which is likely to offer the best gateway to the IP for new fans whilst still delivering an authentic experience for existing fans?
The rise of the streamers and the demand for content they have created has seen the hunt for brands with built in fan bases reach new highs. Although Hollywood has often knocked on the doors of popular brands - such as comic books, games and TV shows - these were big gambles and could fail as much as they could succeed. For every Dark Knight Trilogy, Super Mario Bros. (2023) and Sonic the Hedgehog, there’s The Lone Ranger, Battleship and Super Mario Bros. (1993).
TV content with its longer format allows the lore and characters of IPs to be better established and create a more immersive experience which not only delights existing fans but makes it easier to bring in new ones. The ‘golden age of TV’ that we’re currently experiencing has meant that many IP owners have turned to TV to reinvigorate their older brands, or to take those that have been seen as ‘niche’ to new audiences. The success of The Witcher on Netflix and Fallout on Amazon are perfect examples of video game IPs doing just this and with great results. Both have not just been successful TV shows in their own right, but have also produced that much needed lift to the original iterations of the IP - in this case the video games, as well as boosting licensed products - and expanding them into new categories.
The streamers are keen to tap into fandoms seen as more traditionally niche knowing that the fervor of the fandom and their price elasticity for the brands they love could drive or at least maintain subscriptions and viewership. The announcements of a Magic: The Gathering show at Netflix and Warhammer 40,000 shows at Amazon being in early production definitely point to this. Both are far from the mainstream but have incredibly loyal, if vocal, fanbases who spend $100s on their hobbies each month.
Warhammer 40,000 is a table top game with a healthy existing licensed video game portfolio - this year saw the launch of Space Marine 2 which has been a critical and commercial success with over 5 million players - so it’s clear why TV content would be the next step for expanding that IP even further.
For Magic: The Gathering, a table top trading card game (and Hasbro’s only billion dollar brand - take that Transformers and Peppa Pig) it could have gone with video games or TV content. Video gaming would seem the most natural fit - most players of table top and strategy games are also big video gamers. Without a huge amount of written down lore, like Warhammer 40,000 does with 100s of novels, video games would make the most sense for Magic: the Gathering and is what its Hasbro stablemate, Dungeons & Dragons has done.
After an unsuccessful 2000 film the D&D franchise more than found its feet again in 2023 with the well received Honor Among Thieves, but it has been much more successful in video games, with Baldur’s Gate 3 being a massive standout, and being a more immersive experience it will likely bringing more fans to the tabletop game than both films combined.
So what are the factors that contribute to whether you should take your older or more niche IP into TV or video games? The ideal would of course be both - as seen by the likes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, now 40 years old, it has seen a new film, TV show and numerous video games - either standalone or appearing in other successful gaming franchises - over the past two years.
Both are risky both in terms of their impact and cost, both time and money. The answer most likely comes down to what the core of your IP is and what you’re trying to achieve. Who are the audiences you want to excite or bring in? And how big an audience are you trying to reach? Do you want to engage a lot of people at the top of your brand funnel? Then probably go the TV show route. Or bring as many people to the key part of your IP as possible? Then probably go the video game route. And are you planning a total brand reboot or just a way to bring your IP to new audiences? With both the video game and TV industries continuing their love affairs with licensed IPs, there's never been a better time to take your IP in one or both of these entertainment spaces.
What are your thoughts? Are video games or TV shows the better way to reinvigorate older IPs and bring them to new audiences?