The dos and don'ts of intellectual property development

I'm writing this for those creative visionaries who want to see their ideas gain mass adoption while they're still alive. I'm dead serious. Games are an art form and, in my opinion, one of the most impactful. But if your goal is to create timeless, immortal art for future generations to discover, skip this article.

The era of AI has arrived. While doomsday scenarios and technological singularity make for interesting conversations, the real story is how artificial intelligence is changing the way we create content, just as the industrial revolution did for manufacturing. Content is now cheaper, faster and easier to produce.

0.png

In this panorama you have two choices:

  • Try to produce pixels faster and cheaper than robots.

  • Become someone who defines which pixels need to be produced and, more importantly, why.

The global entertainment industry is entering a phase where, to maintain at least some control, it is necessary to own a cross-media franchise, a fictional universe that can be adapted into commercial entertainment products across multiple types of media.

Only 0.1% of companies own cross-media franchises. Another 0.1% can buy them. The remaining 99.8% will need to figure out how to create new IP with cross-media franchising potential.

Investing in New IP is risky, yes. But the very concept of “new intellectual property” is often unclear. As a result, we don't invest in it often enough for patterns to emerge, and when we do, we're doing it wrong.

IP stands for Intellectual Property, i.e. your tweet, a poem for a loved one, a series of fantasy books, a photo, sports performance statistics, a video game, a brand mascot, or even the design of a drilling rig : everything falls into this category. However, in the video game and narrative-based entertainment industry, we often give intellectual property a very specific meaning. However, when asked, even industry experts might hesitate, tentatively mentioning a brand name, an interesting story, or an excessive production budget. So let me tell you clearly: New IP is a commercial entertainment product designed with the intention of becoming a cross-media franchise. And that's what we're going to talk about here.

It's a monumental task to make something like a new IP. You and your team will learn a lot and transform along the way. There's no manual, but let's take a look at the key do's and don'ts to help you navigate your path to developing new intellectual property.

1.png

1. At the beginning, ask yourself what you will do if this IP becomes successful. When you develop a new game, you have all the odds against you. About 80% of games never make it to release. About 19 out of 20 that release fail or underperform for various reasons. You'll have to figure it out, but don't lose sight of the bigger picture. The question that will get you into the right mindset is: what happens if you succeed? Let me give you an example. You all know the game Voyage—a beautiful and iconic independent project that has sold millions of copies across multiple platforms. But then what? As a commercial visual entertainment product and as an IP, it is nothing more than two black triangles on a yellow background. You can't make a movie or a TV series out of it; no comics, books, action figures or even messenger stickers. So, don't find yourself in a situation where all the odds are in your favor, but now you are left with one option: to move on and create another game, with all the risks associated with it. To avoid this, an IP-centric mindset is needed. The easiest way to achieve this is to ask yourself from the beginning: what will I do with it if it succeeds?

2.png

2. Franchise architecture before choosing a setting. Before you start writing the plot and delving into characters, locations, and artifacts, and even before choosing a setting, you need to clearly define the architecture of the franchise. You need to design the layout of the amusement park before you choose a theme and start building the attractions. If I asked you what game of Thrones the franchise architecture is, you might say, fantasy, dark fantasy, political strategy, episodic structure, or even zombie apocalypse, but these are just the surface. George RR Martin used archetypal individual traits such as courage, greed, lust, and intellect and applied different modifications to each. For example, courage could be the pursuit of justice (Starks), bloodthirsty recklessness (Dothraki), or personal gain (Bronn). He then transformed these traits into factions represented by characters, creating a system that works like a kaleidoscope: for each instance (scene, chapter, episode, season, plot), choose 3-5 of these characters/factions and see how their traits play. It also placed constant pressure on the system, called “main conflict.” Hadit was the ancient threat of extinction. This pressure has created a perfect “content treadmill.” This setting helps unlock the system's potential. If you understand the architecture of the franchise, you'll know exactly what went wrong in the eighth season of the television adaptation. So start with the franchise architecture:

  • Unity of action: In Hadthese would be character traits. You could use archetypes, species, political systems, galaxies, etc.

  • Interaction rules: In Hadthese would be the character's motivations and abilities. Define what is possible in your world.

  • Pressure: In Hadit was a global existential threat. Use the highest stakes conflict or paradox that can never be resolved.

Experiment with these components. You'll notice that you don't even need a setting at this stage.

3.png

3. The environment is why people will come. When you create a new IP, setup is a strategic choice that helps you unlock your franchise architecture. Some systems work better in realism, others in fantasy, alternate history, or the distant future. The goal is to make your world believable and avoid unconscious disbelief. Hundreds of successful fantasy films have taught audiences that dragons exist, while science fiction has trained them to accept teleportation and time travel. The setting also defines who will be attracted to your IP and what they will expect. If you think, “Everyone uses elves in fantasy, but I'm special, so I won't,” read the first paragraph and think again.

The most profitable segment for cross-media franchises is Geeks. They literally bankrolled the success of 100 IMDb Top 250 titles, 194 of the Metacritic Top 250 games, and 138 of the Top 200 box office titles. Twelve highly requested settings resonate with this audience: Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction & Multiverse, Cyberpunk, Heroic Adventure, Urban Legend, Post-Apocalypse, Noir/Dark Detective, Blockbuster Action, Myth-Legend-History, Alternate History, and Anti-utopia and social satire. Pick one, but remember that doing so will attract educated people from hundreds of successful titles in that space. They have a mental shelf with the name of the setting, full of the best examples. Your job is to incorporate what they love most and add innovation.

4. Experience is the reason people stay. To bring your intellectual property to market, you need a product. In this case, a game. But before you think about features or your favorite genre, consider your audience. Look at your franchise architecture and chosen setting and ask yourself: What is the best way for people to experience what I have imagined? What do you want them to do and feel? Answering these questions will make choosing a genre an informed decision and may even inspire significant innovation.

5. 1-800-WHO-CONCERNS. In 2015, Justin Guarini's viral tweet read: “Starlord: Galaxy. Superman: Earth. Spiderman: New York. And then there's Daredevil micromanaging 10 blocks in midtown Manhattan.” (https://x.com/JustinGuarini/status/624423465420988416). The point is that the size of your world and the problems it faces are key predictors of adoption and commercial potential. Think about the difference between The Lord of the Rings and The Wizard of Earthsea. Both have a lot in common, but LotR focuses on a massive struggle between good and evil, while Earthsea is a personal psychological journey. Saving the universe from an evil overlord will always trump overcoming childhood trauma in Boring, Oregon.

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *