Hey folks. Welcome to Edition 103!
For this week's spotlight: How legacy IP holders can reinvigorate archival content and unlock new commercial opportunities by extending IP into lifestyle.
Plus Speed Reads of:
The SEC’s latest definition of fan tokens as collectibles
Altman Solon’s report on sports IP monetisation
Let’s dive into it ⤵️
Turning gaming IP into lifestyle brands
The most valuable franchises are played - and lived.
TL:DR -
For most of the industry’s history, games have competed on content: new mechanics, maps, and features layered onto a core loop.
But the most enduring game IPs win for a different reason, they give players someone to become. That shift matters because it changes what we’re actually building. The center of gravity is no longer just systems or content, but the meaning those systems create.
This happens across three layers:
Identity: Who you get to be in the IP
Ritual: How the IP shows up in your daily life
Worldview: How the IP shapes how you see the world
A gaming IP becomes a lifestyle brand when it evolves from something you play to something you live inside. And when that happens, its value compounds across every dimension: audience, longevity, monetization, and cultural relevance.
From Play to Life
I felt this shift recently in a way that no report could fully capture. I grew up watching the Pokémon animated series after school, then exploring that world through different mediums as a kid. Years later, I found myself playing Scarlet & Violet with my nieces and nephews, then building a LEGO Gyrados together.
I enjoyed the same IP, in different formats across generations with the same emotional continuity. That’s the difference between interacting with a product and having it being woven into the fabric of your life.
Identity: Becoming Someone Else (or More Yourself)
Every great game answers a simple question: “Who am I in this world?”.
Super Mario gives you a timeless identity, the optimistic hero moving forward with clarity and purpose.
Cyberpunk 2077 approaches identity from the opposite direction. It’s fluid, expressive, and constructed. You define yourself through style, augmentation, and ideology, shaping not just how you play, but who you are within the system.
In competitive ecosystems, identity becomes social. It’s how you’re recognized, how you differentiate, and how you belong. Players don’t attach to games because of what they do, they attach because of who they get to be.
Ritual: Turning Play into Practice
Identity becomes durable through repetition.
Pokémon is one of the clearest examples of this. The IP has catching, collecting, and trading loops that extend into everyday life through games, cards, toys, and animation.
Fallout operates differently. The ritual in the game of wandering, scavenging, and surviving is slower and more atmospheric. The loop becomes a mindset, one that players carry beyond the screen.
In modern ecosystems, ritual becomes social. Weekly gatherings, events, and shared play that resemble ceremonies rather than just engaging with content.
Worldview: Seeing the World Differently
The deepest layer is also the most enduring. Great IPs don’t just give players actions, but a lens to view the world.
The Legend of Zelda is built on the belief that the world rewards curiosity, and that exploration is its own form of meaning.
Animal Crossing promotes a philosophy of slow care and intentional living.
Cyberpunk 2077 asks what it means to remain human in a commodified world.
Over time, players don’t just visit these worlds, but internalize their values.
What Comes Next
Games that become lifestyle IPs are built differently. They’re designed as a system of meaning, where every touchpoint reinforces the same core ideas: identity, ritual, and worldview. Visual language, physical products, events, and community behaviors all work in concert.
The next generation of breakout game IP won’t be defined by scale alone, but by how deeply they integrate into people’s lives. Because the most valuable game IP in the next decade won’t just be played, they will be lived.
[by Derick Tsai - Creative Director, Executive, Producer | Games, Entertainment, Brands]
The Speed Read 📖
SEC & CFTC publish landmark joint guidance on fan tokens
US regulators have issued a shared framework categorising crypto assets into five types - giving brands, platforms and crypto businesses a workable framework to follow.
TL:DR -
The five types are now: Commodities, Collectibles (fan tokens/NFTs), Tools (tickets, memberships), Stablecoins & Securities.
Whilst this is still just guidance, not law - it does suggest tokens tied to IP, access or culture will not be securities (as long as they don’t offer financial upside).
Why you should care
Crypto regulation in the US has been a bit of a minefield over the past few years, with the SEC’s categorisation of digital assets changing regularly.
And whilst this new ruling isn’t law, it does offer guidance that tokens tied to IP, access or culture are not securities - provided they don't carry economic rights like profit-sharing or yield generation.
This means brands building products around access, identity and experiences - not speculation - should be able to operate more freely, which should be a positive for fans.
Altman Solon's Global Sports Survey finds rights owners facing a monetisation gap as reach grows, but revenue lags
The 7th edition of Altman Solon's Global Sports Survey finds the sports industry entering a new growth cycle, but highlights a widening gap between the attention sports are capturing and the revenue they're converting.
TL;DR -
45% of industry leaders expect selective global deals to become the norm
1 in 5 under-35s use unofficial streams to watch sports, highlighting a gap but also an opportunity for rights owners
Direct-to-consumer (49%) and data (38%) are the top emerging revenue levers
Creators are now standard distribution partners, but willingness to pay for their content runs 30-40% below traditional formats
Why you should care
The key finding is that sports IP is becoming more valuable at exactly the moment that monetising it is getting harder - with 1 in 5 under-35s watching sports through unofficial channels rather than paying for them.
Basically, reach is expanding but revenue isn't keeping pace.
Major streamers are increasing the share sports takes up of their total content spend - up to 26% by 2027 - but they're doing it selectively. Apple took US Formula 1 rights, Amazon confirmed UEFA Champions League in the UK, Disney+ picked up LaLiga (and as we talked about, Netflix Japan took the WBC). These are targeted bets on marquee, tier 1 properties, not broad "home of sports" plays. For rights owners with deeper inventories, that selectivity might accelerate the shift from ‘selling rights’ to manufacturing packages that feel premium.
On creator-led content, the economics haven't caught up with the reach. Willingness to pay for this sits 30-40% below traditional formats, which means creator partnerships currently function more as a marketing engine than a revenue line.
What this means for sports rights holders is a fork in the road of traditional revenue generation. Reach and monetisation are no longer the same system.
Distribution, across traditional broadcast, creator-led content, and streaming platforms, is about getting your IP in front of as many eyeballs as possible.
Monetisation moves elsewhere - with the strategy focusing more on on D2C products, data capture, and experiential access.
In short, the model shifts from monetising attention directly, to using attention to drive higher-value, owned revenue streams.
In other news
Pacers Sports & Entertainment launch Fieldhouse Media Network; an AI-powered media platform: read here.
Authentic Brands Group & Ubisoft announce multi-season partnership for Riders Republic: read here.
Sanrio to launch ‘personalised’ digital experiences alongside AI avatar company Genies: read here.
NFL partners with TMRW Sports to launch new professional flag football league: read here.
KSI, DAZN and Dagenham & Redbridge livestream game on YouTube: read here.
Netflix & McDonalds partner for KPop Demon Hunters collab: read here.
Disney partners with Comixit! for Mickey Mouse, Stitch & Moana webtoons: read here.
Crunchyroll and The Gang launch Anime Monster Collector experience on Roblox: read here.
Inter Milan partners with video monetisation business, Merzigo: read here.
BBC Arts has launched a full classical music concert filmed in Apple Immersive for Apple Vision Pro: read here.
Samsung launches Performance TV: read here.
The FA launches the Official England App ahead of World Cup: read here.
Panini blockchain bridge to open; partners with OpenSea: read here.
American Express named Official Payments Partner of the NFL: read here.
FC Basel launch second Roblox experience alongside DayZero: read here.
State Farm adds SuperFan brand ambassador to EA Sports FC: read here.
Meta to cut back on third-party vendors in favour of AI for content enforcement: read here.
Why brands should embrace horror: read here.
Peacock expands into AI-driven video, mobile-first live sports, and gaming: read here.
Daegu Technopark supports sports tech startups utilising GPU and blockchain infrastructure: read here.
Meta decides not to shut down Horizon Worlds on VR after all: read here.
Five Iron Golf announces Series E investment to support expansion, investment in technology and programming: read here.
Nazara to buy controlling stake in Spanish startups Bluetile, BestPlay for $100m: read here.
Working on anything cool, or have a press release you would like us to cover? Send it in for the chance for it to be covered in next week’s edition!
That’s all for now, everyone - thanks again for reading the latest edition of The SEG3 Report. If you found it of interest, please do consider sharing with a colleague or friend who’d enjoy it too!