Immersive play | Fanattik on why creativity is running wild in video game licensing

It’s odd to think of the video game licensing sector as one that is still in its relative infancy. There’s a maturity to many of the partnerships that circle the market and its audiences that would suggest the experience and wisdom of one established decades ago, when Pong’s first pixels flickered to life and into the homes of 1970s America.

Perhaps it’s a manifestation of an industry’s self-assurance? The video games sector has the charisma of an entertainment sector that not only knows its worth, but enjoys the fact that you know it, too. And it’s one fuelled by a fandom so immersed in its narratives, that when it comes to licensing, the consumer products space is a playground in which it can have a lot of fun.

That’s precisely what Anthony Marks, managing director of the pop culture specialist, Fanattik is doing right now. Having a lot of fun. Because gone are the days when games publishers would lean into the ‘bare minimum assets and a logo’ kind licensing, and here to stay is an era in which licensing is being given the chance to explore a game’s terrain, reach into its DNA and pull from it elements that reverberate with fans around the world.

And if you’re not buying that, then there’s at least some cool collectables being made.

Here, Licensing.biz catches up with Fanattik’s Anthony Marks to talk about the health of the video game licensing sector, the creativity that surrounds it, and why he’ll be shipping the entire development team off to the states come next year…

Hello Anthony, and thanks for taking the time to talk video games with us this week. Fanattik’s video game IP portfolio is continuing to grow, with some exciting titles added recently in Sea of Thieves. What do you and the team make of the health of the video games licensing space today?

Video games are the healthiest part of the licensing world in my opinion. It’s no secret that when Covid hit, it super charged what was already a fast growing sector. This is a huge market which a lot of retailers haven’t picked up on yet and that is why there is still so much opportunity for growth in this sector.

How do you think video games licensing has changed in the last few years? What are consumers and fans demanding from the video games merchandise they buy today?

When we first started signing up video game properties, merchandise was the last thing on the brand owners’ mind and you were lucky to get just a handful of assets along with the logo. Now it’s a very different picture as it’s not just about generating income for the brands anymore. The merchandise is an extension of their marketing activities and a way to further increase brand loyalty.

What is it about the sector that excites Fanattik? What level of creativity with licensing does today’s fandom around video games lend you guys when it comes to developing concepts?

The possibilities feel endless with gaming, whether it’s an upcoming big budget game or an evergreen title, the developers create such an immense backstory to each title it really does give us the opportunity to dig deep and create some really interesting pieces.

The creators know every nook and cranny so we work hand in hand with the studios. Next year we are sending a team to the USA to sit with one studio and immerse themselves in just one particular title. Whilst it could have been done over video, I believe you need to commit 100 per cent to develop concepts the fandom will truly appreciate, so we need to be face to face with their creative team.

Looking at the Sea of Thieves collection – from Doubloons to limited edition art prints – it appears to draw directly from game play or intricate components from within the IP. Why does video game licensing lend itself better to this level of immersion than other entertainment medium?

Unlike a film, where a fan walks out of the cinema and a few days later possibly only remembers the ending or the big action scenes, with games the fan can be playing the same part of the game over and over again for days to get to that next stage. They have to pay attention to every aspect of each part of the game they are in to learn how to progress and that, for example, is why the in-game replica’s we create for video game properties are working so well for retailers.

What are Fanattik’s plans in the video game licensing space? How will you continue to innovate and push the boundaries when it comes to immersion and linking IP with the merchandising?

Now is a great time to ask that question, we are in the final stages of renewing and expanding our licenses with two of the world’s biggest video game studios. We will be further focusing on in-game replica’s, luckily where I am a fan of the retro titles we have a great team of designers who are all avid gamers and you need that when you are trying to create something special, video game fans will pick up straight away if you are trying to wing it.

What do you think the future holds for video game licensing? What is exciting you about the scene right now?

What has always excited us is that this is still a relatively young industry, one where the consumers are happy to pay for an item with a retailer and wait three to four months until they receive the product without batting an eyelid. It’s also an industry where the brand owners encourage you to be as quirky as possible and create products that will stand out which suits Fanattik.

What would you like to see the licensing industry do with video game IP? Where do you think video game licensing should be heading?

I think it’s already happening and that is the studios putting more resources into promoting their retro titles and not just the latest release.

So, what’s the next step for you guys? 

Export, export,and export. In all license negotiations now we are aiming for, if not a global license then, as much territory as possible. The team put so much effort into each and every product it makes sense to get that product to as wide a range of fans as possible. So in 2022 we will have a presence at Nuremberg Toy Fair, New York Toy Fair as well as the Las Vegas Licensing show.

Thank you Anthony. Before we let you go, is there anything you’d like to add?

Only that we know it can be tricky for gift retailers who are new to this sector. They have to work out which gaming property to support and don’t want to risk shelf space on the latest game release if it may not be as well received by the fans as they had hoped.

On the other hand I can imagine a buyer trying to explain to their senior team that they want to allocate shelf space to merchandise from a 20 year old game. We are on hand to sit with buyers, show them our case studies and help them select a range that is going to work for them, after all it’s in our interests for them to sell as many pieces as possible!

MDR Brand Management launches esports and interactive entertainment division, NIVO

London’s MDR Brand Management has launched a new global esports and interactive entertainment arm under the banner NIVO Management.

The standalone business will focus on player representation, as well as offer consultation to brands looking to move into the esports space. It will be headed up by Tom Murray, an Associate within the Sports Group and Esports Group at the UK law firm, Mishcon de Reya.

Murray will work closely with MDR Brand Management CEO, Daniel Avener, while NIVO clients will have access to MDR Brand Management’s global network of brands and commercial relationships.

“We are excited to build on our success in advising leading esports professionals on their legal affairs with the launch of NIVO,” said Murray. 

“Players have made it clear to us that they want their careers and commercial opportunities to be managed with the same professionalism and integrity as we approach our brand management and legal practices. We are here to deliver that.”

The new esports and interactive entertainment business will be comprised of three strategic platforms: contract negotiations, bespoke strategies to maximise brand opportunities including sponsorship and endorsement deals, and providing ‘holistic management support.’

MDR Brand Management’s Avener, said: “By managing negotiations, unlocking brand potential and opening up our global network of specialist advisors and brands, we enable players and talent to focus on what they do best.

“The launch of NIVO as a standalone division marks an important investment for MDR Brand Management in the rapidly expanding esports and interactive entertainment sector, and builds on our sustained growth over the past three years.”

MDR Brand Management currently operates in 25 locations globally and boasts recent brand partnerships for the likes of Eve Sleep, Revlon, and Paul Frank via Futurity Brands.

SPREE Interactive moves to be ‘at the forefront of VR attractions industry’ through licensing

SPREE Interactive, a specialist in commercial VR attractions has signed its first, exclusive licensing partnership with VR Nerds to distribute the world’s first all-in-one mobile VR eSports experience for Tower Tag.

Tower Tag is currently the largest VR eSport game in the world, with over one million plays to date. The partnership will see the creation of a new SPREE Arena, in which up to eight players will be able to compete against each other or work as a team against a team of AI bots.

The licensing partnership is one among a suite of new updates for SPREE Interactive which in November 2020 secured a seven-digit investment of an undisclosed amount from two strategic and two financial investors. The firm will use the latest investment to expand its global operations.

Among its objectives is to tap int the growing demand of shopping centres across the US to diversify their offering as an impact of the coronavirus pandemic. With over 3 billion gamers globally by 2023, the global gaming market is estimated to reach $92.31 billion in the next six years. Meanwhile, esports revenues are estimated to reach $1.5bn by 2023.

Combined with the need for retail destinations to diversify their offering, SPREE Interactive believes there to be a lucrative future in combining all these elements.

“Covid has fueled even more demand from shopping malls which now desperately need alternate revenue streams and innovative ways to utilize the floor space especially with foot traffic fluctuating and increasing in various markets,” said Jonathan Nowak Delgado, founder and managing director, SPREE Interactive. 

SPREE’s products deliver one of the highest ROI in the industry. Operators are recouping their investment in less than six months generating additional revenue with an average of 2,500 plays per location, per month, boosting ticket sales and revenue for its enterprise clients like Family Entertainment Centers. 

Founded in 2017, formerly known as Holodeck VR, SPREE Interactive enables their clients, global entertainment retail chains, to successfully re-attract players into their locations. 

SPREE has previously billed its content strategy as ‘the Netflix of the hyper-immersive social virtual reality experiences,’ through which it will enable third-party content developers – such as VR Nerds – to develop for its open platform.

SPREE Investor, Stephan Berendsen, founder and managing director of the Germany-based firm, Berendsen Holding GmbH said: “Having sold my own company to Disney 15 years ago, I know what it takes for a company to become attractively scalable and profitable – and SPREE has the potential for both.”

SPREE’s founder and managing director Jonathan Nowak Delgado, concluded: “In order to continue to be on the forefront of the VR attractions industry, we will continue to build upon proprietary, patented sensor fusion technology, strategic partnerships and cutting edge content distribution platform as we plan our Series A round later this year.”

US consumers spent $56.9 billion on gaming in 2020 according to NPD latest

US consumers spent a record $56.9 billion on gaming in 2020, a jump of 27 per cent from 2019, according to data from the NPD Group.

December was a particularly big month for games, consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories reached a December record of $7.7 billion, 25 per cent higher than in December 2019.

Hardware dollar sales, meanwhile, reached $1.35 billion in December 2020, a jump of 38 per cent compared to 2019, and the highest total for a December month since the $1.37 billion generated in December 2013.

Hardware dollar sales totalled $5.3 billion for the year, 35 per cent higher than 2019, and the highest since the $5.6 billion generated in 2011.

As reported by Licensing.biz sister title, MCV UK, the Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console of 2020, with annual dollar sales being the second highest for an individual platform in a single calendar year in U.S. history – beaten only by another Nintendo console, the Wii, in 2008.

Despite supply issues, the Playstation 5 was the second best-selling console in dollar sales, while PlayStation 4 ranked second in units sold. PlayStation 5 set a new dollar sales record for PlayStation hardware through each PlayStation platform’s first December at retail.

Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War was both the best selling game of December 2020 and the year as a whole, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was the second best-seller of the year.

Call of Duty ranked as the best-selling gaming franchise in the U.S. market for a record 12th consecutive y

Animal Crossing:New Horizons, while not quite as popular as it is in Japan, still proved successful in the US, ranking third. In 2020, the title achieved the highest physical dollar sales for a Nintendo-published game in a calendar year since Wii Fit Plus in 2010.

Nintendo saw a strong December 2020, with half of the top 20 best-selling games of the month being published by Nintendo.

Cyberpunk 2077 debuted as the second best-selling game of December, and the 19th best-selling game of 2020, despite the lack of digital tracking.

The Last of Us: Part II finished 2020 as the year’s best-selling PlayStation exclusive, and the sixth best selling game overall. The game now ranks as the third best-selling Sony-published game in U.S. history in dollar sales, trailing only Marvel’s Spider-Man, and 2018’s God of War.

The gaming community nutrition brand Respawn teams with Mars Wrigley to launch Respawn by 5 chewing gum

The mental performance nutrition brand for the gaming community, Respawn, has partnered with Mars Wrigley’s to expand its consumable line-up with the launch of Respawn by 5, a new gum that has been developed to ‘add a new layer of focus to the gaming experience.’

The sugar-free chewing gum is formulated with B vitamins and nutrients such as green tea extract, and has been developed by the teams at both Mars Wrigley’s 5 gum, and the gaming division of Respawn’s sister company, Razer. It has been devised as a gum to increase the focus of gamers while they are playing.

Respawn by 5 comes in three flavours – Cool Mint, Tropical Punch, and Pomegranate Watermelon. The former is a mainstay gum flavour while the latter is among the most popular flavours of Respawn’s mental performance drink.

“Respawn was created to address the clear market for food and beverage products in gaming that help players maintain focus and mental agility during gameplay, without the intense rush provided by many energy products,” said Sean Driscoll, senior product evangelist for Respawn Ltd. “Mars Wrigley brings with them immense experience and market leadership in the gum category and was a perfect partner for our new consumable line.”

Flip Block, global brand director at Mars Wrigley, added: “Finding an innovative way to service new and existing customers, and uniquely so within the gaming space, is one way we continue growing our gum business, maintain our leadership and demonstrate expertise.

“It was an easy decision to align with Razer and Respawn’s existing drink mix line to develop this product and satisfy a new market with Respawn by 5.”

Respawn and the Mars Wrigley’s 5 gum team organised focus groups and taste tests studying the habits of gamers and their product consumption while gaming to determine the best gum in form factor, ingredients, and taste. The findings then helped the team adjust and finalise the flavors and formula.