How your original indie IP can engage audiences beyond the game

gamesindustry.biz:

If you're reading this article, you've likely created an original IP or are planning an original title. Your game may be performing well and you've got a regular fanbase in place, but what next?

In recent times, we've seen many gaming IPs take a trip to Hollywood as a new way of engaging audiences. The Super Mario Bros Movie broke box office records and Fallout and The Witcher have both appealed to television audiences. Even indie IP is facing the Hollywood treatment, with an all-star Among Us animated series incoming, and a Vampire Survivors TV show seemingly on its way.

But Hollywood isn't the only avenue to expand your original indie IP; various indie developers have explored new ways of reaching audiences beyond the screen, and this article shares the methods for doing so.

Lore goes hand-in-hand with building an original IP. As your game expands and narrative becomes richer, your IP strengthens with additional characters and backstory your playerbase finds an affinity for. Developing lore is crucial to give the game a personality, and build community.

Minecraft is an example of this. Although now considered one of the most popular games in history, it started off as an indie title. Over time, the game has expanded with new mobs, items, and even parallel dimensions. Take the Nether for example, although not in the original release, the fiery world is now a key feature of the title, sparking numerous LEGO sets.

Indeed, before talk of spinoffs and sequels, building a strong IP for the original title takes time; in our case, we've worked on The Battle of Polytopia for eight years. Our game doesn't have a protagonist, instead we offer tribes for players to choose from. Each of these have unique personalities and gameplay behaviour and we celebrate each tribe throughout the year in what we call 'Tribe Moons'. Each month, we shine a spotlight on a tribe, running tribe-specific esports tournaments and developing additional lore and accompanying cinematics, some of which have