IP PARTNERSHIPS
What is a gaming IP partnership?
A gaming IP partnership is a deal between a brand and a game, film or franchise to make something together: a product, a skin, an event, a reward players can use. These deals run to the rights holder’s calendar rather than the brand’s, so the strongest ones land on a moment fans are already waiting for. A game launch, an anniversary, a film, an esports final. GEEIQ tracks which gaming IPs hold attention, which moments are coming, and how brands perform when they show up.
What good partnerships have in common
Four things to check before you take an idea to a publisher.
LICENSED
Someone owns the IP: a publisher, a studio, sometimes a separate rights holder. Each one signs off on what you make.
CO-CREATED
The brand and the IP make something new together, built to belong in the game’s world rather than carry its logo.
PLAYABLE
Players get something to do: a skin, a quest, a reward, an item that changes how they play.
TIMED
It lands on a date fans are already waiting for. A launch, an anniversary, a film, an esports final.
The gaming IP with the biggest audiences
Before you plan around a gaming IP, look at the scale it already has.
REVENUE
$166bn
Pokémon, lifetime franchise revenue
The highest grossing gaming IP. Revenue carries the most weight in the score, and Pokémon leads it.
REACH
5bn
Angry Birds, downloads to date
The most downloaded gaming IP ever. Downloads are how the score reads reach.
SEARCHES
152m
Minecraft, online searches in a single month
A game more than fifteen years old, still generating that much search demand in one month.
FOLLOWING
No.1
Garena Free Fire, the most followed gaming IP online
Following counts fans across social platforms. No gaming IP has more.
GEEIQ scores gaming IP on five weighted metrics: revenue first, then reach, following, searches and average interest.
Four moments worth planning around
A partnership runs to the rights holder’s calendar, so the strongest ones land on a date fans are already waiting for.
Four kinds of moment give a gaming IP partnership its date: a game launch, a franchise anniversary, a film or television release, and a live final. Each one buys the brand something different. Each one comes with a fixed date somebody else controls.
ANATOMY OF A PARTNERSHIP
How Lush and Minecraft built the same object twice
Lush and Minecraft marked the game’s 15th anniversary by making the same object in both worlds, a bath bomb you can buy and a bath bomb you can craft.
PHYSICAL PRODUCT
IN GAME
The object
12 products, among them TNT, Grass Block, Diamond Ore and Creeper.
Four craftable bath bombs: Intergalactic, Big Blue, Twilight and Lakes.
The way in
Lush shops, the Lush app and lush.com, from 6 August 2024.
A free add-on on the Minecraft Marketplace, or bought from an in-game merchant with emeralds.
What it does
Fills a bath, with notes of lemon, ylang ylang and oak moss.
Colours the water, calms hostile mobs and grants boosts to players.
Licensed, co-created, playable, timed. All four are present in this one partnership.
The mechanic changes with the game. Three more partnerships, and the mechanic behind each.
COSMETICS AND SKINS
Porsche × Overwatch 2
Two Legendary skins for D.Va and Pharah, the mech mirroring the Macan EV. Live 14 May to 3 June 2024.
IN-GAME REWARDS
McDonald’s × Genshin Impact
The Wings of Delicacies glider, with the code emailed after purchase. US only, 17 to 29 September 2024.
RETAIL TAKEOVER
7-Eleven × Pokémon
Store and packaging wrapped, a free card with booster packs, and one branch turned into a PokéStop.
Public campaigns. Product, date and mechanic details as reported at the time of each campaign.
“
The strongest products feel native to the world they came from, and they give players a reason to move between the brand and the game. Everything else is a logo with a licence fee attached.
GEEIQ
MEASUREMENT
How to tell if it worked
Four questions, in the order a partnership answers them.
The in-game side and the physical side each need their own numbers, so agree all four sets of measures before the launch date.
1
IP MOMENT
Awareness
Did it get attention?
Reach, views, share of conversation, PR and media coverage, share of voice.
2
BRAND ACTIVATION
Engagement
Did people engage with the in-game and the physical product?
Engagement rate, content views, search interest, product page visits, dwell time.
3
AUDIENCE RESPONSE
Conversion
Did it sell?
Product sales, conversion rate, referral traffic, UTM performance, in-game code redemptions, average order value.
4
BUSINESS OUTCOME
Long term value
Did the community stay?
New to brand customers, repeat purchase, community growth, brand affinity, future purchase intent.
A number on its own says very little, so GEEIQ tracks the same measures across the market to give a result something to sit against.
WHERE WE COME IN
How GEEIQ helps with IP partnerships
Four decisions sit behind an IP partnership. We hold data on each one.
Choose the IP
We score gaming IP on revenue, reach, following, searches and average interest, so a shortlist can be defended in a room.
Time the moment
We keep a calendar of launches, anniversaries, films and finals from 2026 into 2028, matched against your product window.
Pick the mechanic
We track what brands already do inside games, by IP, by mechanic and by category, so an idea starts from evidence.
Measure it
We follow a campaign from reach through to in-game code redemptions, and show how it compares with other brands active in gaming and virtual worlds.
We also work through the parts that slow partnerships down: who to approach at the publisher, what the term sheet has to settle, and how age ratings and marketing rules differ by market.
