Why you should expand your IP into Mobile Games

Mobile Games = Reach + Profit

To put it simply, mobile games are huge right now.

According to eMarketer, 51 % of the population and 61% of mobile users in the USA played mobile games at least once a month in 2015. By 2020 these numbers are expected to rise to 64% and 77% respectively. It goes without saying that mobile games have a massive reach on a global scale.

Revenue on mobile is another incentive. According to VentureBeat, mobile games generated $40.6 billion dollars in revenue in 2016, rivaling the output of global box office sales in that time.

Does this make you want to get into mobile games?

If you have an intellectual property of your own and think “maybe elements of this could work as a mobile game but I don’t even know where to start” or “my IP doesn’t really suit the mobile environment”, don’t worry. We think any kind of valuable IP can be made into a game or an app and we know where to start.

Launching your IP on a mobile platform can be an exciting journey and you can discover new opportunities regarding your IP that you never thought of before!

Extending your brand or IP to mobile platforms, it can again reach a similarly sized or even larger audience than before, not to mention re-engaging your previous fans. If your IP has an even remotely established fan base, this can reduce user acquisition costs by a fair amount, resulting in a healthy influx of users to the game. This, combined with the added possibility of the game being featured in the platforms and high retention, barriers can blasted through like never before (see Pokemon Go).

With all the new users brought in, IP games can also act as a whole new major revenue source, as hinted by mobile games reaching 40.6 billion dollars in revenue, matching that brought in by movies in 2016. Crazy, right!?

In-game opportunities

Again one upside with mobile games is the limitless possibilities they can provide you regarding modularity and reach. The developer can easily swap between in-app promotional spaces, update graphics and improve the experience based on feedback or metrics that can be gathered anonymously as users interact with the game.

A game can have an in-game “hub” to promote whatever the IP holder wants to promote, as well as perform cross-promotion between other possible licensors of your IP and sponsors. An in-game hub can also help in ticket sales, bring awareness to your IP, and make the brand stronger. There are even algorithms that could target specific countries or user-bases with tailored content.

Take your IPs to mobile

The mobile iron is hot so the time to strike is now. Game companies are betting on licensed games more and more nowadays since the IP license can give a much needed distinguishing factor to games which there are so, so many of in the App Store and on Google Play.

So, why not leverage your brand and existing fan base and make a game to access a high retention of users and multiple other opportunities that the mobile platform provides.

If you’re interested in finding out what YOU could do in the mobile game world with your IP, you can send us a mail. We’d be more than happy to talk, give pointers or even work together!

This article was originally published at http://koukoi.com/expand-ip-mobile-games/ on March 30th, 2017. Article was co-written by Marketing and Communications Specialist Matti Luonua.