Games are applied to the print – Newspaper Kommersant No. 46 (7491) of 03/20/2023

Video game developers are planning to start producing branded goods in Russia and the CIS for their game universes. For example, Mundfish (“Atomic Heart”) studio signed a license agreement with Megalicense for the production of goods, such as clothing, electronics, game paraphernalia, with its own symbols. A similar project is being prepared by Lesta Games (“World of Tanks”, “World of Ships”). Such products will help promote the brand, market participants believe. But manufacturers who license a brand at the peak of its popularity risk bringing the product to market just in time for interest to decline, experts warn. The emergence of counterfeit products can also become a problem.

The Mundfish studio, which released the Atomic Heart game, plans to launch a franchise of goods in the game universe in Russia and the CIS: the copyright holder has signed a licensing agreement with the Megalicense agency, its CEO Zakhar Nazarenko told Kommersant. “What products will be sold under the Atomic Heart brand in the future depends on licensing agreements. We see clothing, food, stationery, household goods as promising,” he said. He also clarified that it is possible to produce branded electronics, game paraphernalia and souvenirs, such as T-shirts. The top manager refused to disclose the terms of the agreement.

A similar project is planned by Lesta Games (“World of Tanks”, “World of Ships”). “So far we are not planning to launch a franchise, but we are ready and are already working on collaborations with manufacturers of goods. We are talking about applying symbols and recognizable visuals from our games, ”Gaukhar Aldiyarova, head of the Moscow division of Lesta Games, explained to Kommersant. She clarified that the key aspect for the studio is the promotion of the brand, and not the growth of sales revenue.

An interlocutor of Kommersant in one of the Russian game studios says that even before 2022, the market for goods branded with symbols from video games in Russia was poorly developed. “Products based on series, films or images are always enough in the mass market. But goods with video game brands were sold only in specialized stores, the owners of which ordered them in small quantities from abroad, which affected the price, ”he notes.

The ex-product director of Wargaming, Vyacheslav Makarov, agrees with this: goods for video game franchises were of little interest to the audience, and high profitability from such projects should not be expected. “If the Atomic Heart franchise merchandise just has a logo or characters, almost no one will be interested in them. If the studio tries to sell, for example, clothes stylized in the neo-Soviet style on which the game is based, the chances are much higher, ”he said.

At the same time, manufacturers who buy a license for a brand at the peak of popularity run the risk of bringing the product to the market just in time for the decline in interest, emphasizes Maria Rogozhina, project manager for the Licensed Market Bulletin. At the same time, she notes that new brands are cheaper than established ones and “with the right choice” licensees can make good money, “this was the case with the Angry Birds brand, which began to be offered for rent in Russia in 2012, then no one could have thought that the game will become so popular.” The licensed business model has been successfully used in Russia in relation to World of Tanks, Talking Tom, Cut the Rope and a number of other gaming brands, but “for the modern market, this is rather a niche story,” Ms. Rogozhina believes.

The main problem of the market for such franchises is piracy, notes Alexander Sablukov, CEO of Zero Plus Media (brands Be-be-bears, Fairy Patrol, Cats and Dogs, etc.). For example, Rovio Entertainment Oyj (Angry Birds brand) and Entertainment One UK Ltd (Peppa Pig) have been conducting a large-scale legal campaign against Russian counterfeit manufacturers for several years (see Kommersant dated December 13, 2021). At the same time, Anatoly Semyonov, head of the Parallel Import Association and deputy chairman of the RSPP Committee on Intellectual Property, insists that counterfeit “never really interferes” with official rights holders earning. “If the company builds a reasonable product line, then there will be no incentive to buy fakes,” he says.

Nikita Korolev, Yuri Litvinenko, Yulia Yurasova