Working With Licensed IP: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
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During my time at Westwood, Origin, and Liquid, I've worked on or around brands like The Lion King, Monopoly, Command & Conquer, Red Alert, Lands of Lore, Sid Meier, Civilization, Ultima, Wing Commander, Jane's, Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, Desperate Housewives, Thor and others. I've definitely become a believer in the power of brands in video games.
I once explained the power of licensed IP to some Microsoft execs like this: we have to think of games as (slippery.) To non-industry folks, games are difficult to quantify. Like a (hard good,) they can list a feature set (which most people don't understand how it translates into fun) -- and like traditional entertainment, they have to convey an experience (which may be at odds with a feature set). The result is confusing to the unsophisticated buyer. To address the issue, we often need put as many handles on the product as possible. Like a known brand. As it turns out a brand is a significant handle for an otherwise slippery product. Put (Vampire Game) on your box and even a veteran gamer isn't completely sure what's inside. They have to probe the box and do multiple searches on the Internet. Is it a survival-horror? An adventure game? Do I play a good guy or a bad guy? Put (Twilight The Game) on the box and immediately a large segment of the population thinks they know what they are getting without asking a single question. My son can't read, but he looks for the Hot Wheels logo on every miniature he gets. That's power.
There are lots of touchy-feely aspects to a good brand too. Buyers may have a preexisting set of positive expectations, so you naturally speak to buyers who are predisposed to like your content. Furthermore, people who don't like that particular IP may steer away altogether, preventing a painful purchasing mistake.
The buyer gets an immediate sense that they belong -- that they are part of a club. It gets people who don't play games to buy them (and sometimes even play them!) and can lead (casual) players to go deeper, getting more involved in the story and gameplay. All of these (soft) concepts are often swept under the powerful (there's a movie attached) thinking but they are true and very, very important.
