Activision Blizzard: How A Fan-First Approach is Driving Licensing for Gaming’s Biggest Brands

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, the industry has seen an over nine percent increase in total revenue from 2019 to 2020. The analyst firm projects that video games will generate revenues of $159.3 billion by year's end. 

What's more, is that the industry's gamers are very engaged with their favorite titles. 

Limelight Networks

 reported earlier this year that consumers spend more than six hours a week playing games. For some fans, even just watching gamers play games is a beloved pastime. According to Limelight, watching esports is more popular than watching sports for 18-25-year-old consumers.  

The massive popularity of video games makes it a prime vertical for licensable brands. Few understand that fact better than Activision Blizzard. The 

Festival of Licensing

 exhibitor has leveraged its diverse set of popular franchises to enable the company to deliver compelling experiences to a network of over 425 million players, including

Activision Blizzard Consumer Products Group is exhibiting

at 

Festival of Licensing

, a month-long large-scale digital gathering that unites the global licensing industry to connect, learn, strike deals and do business on an international stage. The event takes place Oct. 6-29. 

Register for free now!

Activision Blizzard is best known for blockbuster hits including

World of Warcraft, Hearthstone®, Overwatch, Overwatch League

, the

Warcraft®, StarCraft®, Heroes of the Storm®, Diablo®, Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot®

franchises. In Asia specifically, Blizzard Entertainment has found substantial success with

"Overwatch," "Diablo" and "World of Warcraft."

This year, Activision Blizzard reported strong year-over-year growth and achieved second-quarter results significantly above its prior outlook. Through the Activision Blizzard Consumer Products Group, the company has also been steadily growing its licensing and merchandising business. The group has built an effective strategy that focuses on engaging the global fan with apparel, novels, figures, collectibles and more that celebrate and expand the experience of Activision Blizzard’s iconic stories, characters, and esports.” Just like its games, the Activision Blizzard Consumer Products Group works to create products that consider the fan's experience first. 

Moving into fall 2020 and 2021, the Activision Blizzard Consumer Products Group continues to evolve that strategy even further through world-class licensing programmes and innovative products. Examples of most recent Activision Blizzard Consumer Products Group's world-class team-ups include diverse category licensees with Astro, KontrolFreek, Scuff, DRKN for Call of Duty, Days of Wonder/Asmodee for World of Warcraft, Dark Horse Digital, Mattel's Hot Wheels, Scholastic, illustrator Koyorin, for Overwatch, and Jeff Staple collaboration x Overwatch League to name a few.

If you'd like to connect with the Activision Blizzard Consumer Products Group  team, be sure to visit the 

Activision Blizzard booth

 at the Festival of Licensing. For more information on licensing opportunities in Asia, also reach out to

[email protected]

 for more information.