Developers and Publishers – New IPs: Why Studio Brands and Their Reputation Are Becoming More Valuable Than Individual Franchises

Most companies have traditionally considered the brands they've created or acquired in the past to be their most valuable assets. However, nowadays, what's more important may be what they are capable of achieving in the future. The release of Gears of War: E-Day is an excellent opportunity to discuss how individual studios are transforming into independent and far more valuable IPs.

In recent years, it's been increasingly discussed in the film industry that directors have become the new IPs. Franchises are still important, but they are no longer the main selling points, and the value of once-eternal brands like "Star Wars" has noticeably decreased. There are hardly any actors at the level of Tom Cruise in Hollywood anymore. Studios are increasingly building their schedules and pipelines around specific creators. People flock to see "Odyssey" not because of its star-studded cast or because it's an adaptation of an ancient poem, but because of Christopher Nolan's name.

This applies even to less well-known directors. Film companies are investing in talented independent creators who become brands in their own right. One of the most striking examples in recent years is the 45-year-old director Zach Cregger. Studios didn't believe in "Barbarian" and thought its structure and plot were too risky, but following its box-office success, a real war broke out over the script for "Weapons." Today, film companies are ready to outbid each other just for the right to have Cregger on their roster. The success of the recent Resident Evil adaptation is directly tied to the director, who has turned his distinctive style into a standalone brand with growing value.

A scene from Zach Cregger's Resident Evil

A similar transformation is happening in the gaming industry. However, it is the teams and publishers that are turning into conditional meta-IP, rather than individual creators or game directors. This doesn't mean that the concept of franchises is dying—just look at the annual console charts, where the mass audience repeatedly buys the latest EA Sports FC, Call of Duty, or Pokémon. Yet, across the industry, there's an interesting shift where having a prestigious IP no longer solves business problems or increases the chances of returns on investment—especially in the realities of AAA development.

With a budget of about 40–60 million dollars, a well-known brand can give a project enough resilience and scale success. However, when it comes to hundreds of millions of dollars, the IP must reach far beyond the core audience.

Today, the value of each game is built around: