The Dominance of Licensed Video Games in Modern Gaming

Remember those old licensed games from back in the day? You know, the cheap tie-ins for movies and TV shows that either sucked like Superman 64 or rocked like GoldenEye? 😅 People still get all nostalgic for them, thinking they vanished into thin air. But guess what? Licensed games never left—they just evolved into a massive, expensive beast that's swallowing the whole gaming industry whole in 2025. It's not about those quick cash-grabs anymore; it's about franchises taking over everything, from Marvel to Star Wars, and it's changing how games are made and who survives.

Back in the 90s and early 2000s, licensed games were simple: rush out a game based on a new movie, slap on some pixels, and hope it sells. Some were disasters—who could forget the Atari E.T. fiasco?—but others, like Rare's GoldenEye, became legends. Fast forward to now, and that era feels like ancient history. Yet, gamers crave it, missing the charm of those bite-sized adventures. The truth? Licensed games are everywhere, but they've shifted from low-budget flops to high-stakes blockbusters. It's not just about nostalgia; it's a full-blown takeover where every major IP wants its own gaming universe. 💥

Take Marvel, for instance. The MCU's decade-long domination has turned it into a gaming juggernaut. In 2025, we've got:

• Marvel Rivals (more comic-based but riding the MCU wave)

• Discontinued stuff like Marvel's Avengers

• Current hits like Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy

• Upcoming titles: Blade, Wolverine, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, and a new Iron Man game

• Plus mobile games like Marvel Snap and Marvel Mystic Mayhem

Oh, and DC isn't slacking either. Rocksteady's Batman Arkham series set the bar, but there's more: two Batman Telltale games, Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and Injustice. Plus, they're inexplicably working on another live-service DC game—because why learn from past mistakes? 🤦‍♂️ But hey, some argue comics don't count as 'real' tie-ins. Fine, let's look elsewhere. There's Friday the 13th games, Harry Potter spinoffs, a Bond game from IO Interactive, Star Wars galore, Lord of the Rings adventures, South Park titles, Mad Max, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and even niche stuff like Bithell's Tron and John Wick games. And get this—a Barbarian game got announced, based on just one film! That's right, everything's a franchise now, aspiring to be the next big thing.

Why this explosion? Simple: risk aversion. Big publishers are terrified of originality. With games costing millions to make, slapping a popular IP on it guarantees fan attention and sales. But that safety net comes at a brutal cost. Licensing fees are astronomical—take the 2023 Insomniac leak that revealed a $621 million commitment for X-Men games by 2035, covering Wolverine and Spider-Man 3. Insane, right? This high-stakes model leads to disasters: studios like Cliffhanger Games (behind the cancelled Black Panther game) and Monolith (with their canned Wonder Woman project) got shut down after years of work. It's not just sad; it's unsustainable.

Back in the day, a bad licensed game might flop quietly. Now, failures bankrupt entire teams. The nostalgia for old tie-ins makes sense—at least they didn't wreck lives. 😢 This trend isn't new; since 2023, we've seen remakes and reboots flood the market, and it's only gotten worse. Companies prioritize IP over innovation, leading to a homogenized gaming landscape. Is it all doom and gloom? Not entirely—some gems like Alien Isolation show IP can inspire greatness. But the question lingers: with costs soaring and creativity stifled, can this licensed game frenzy last forever?

So, as we dive into 2025, it's clear: licensed games aren't just back; they're the norm. But what happens when the bubble bursts? 🤔