Another important 2026 trend is “gaming as the backbone of cross‑media IP”: games are no longer just one channel in a franchise, but a central engine for audience growth, UGC, and transmedia storytelling, reshaping value pools across entertainment.bcg+2
Gaming’s next expansion wave
BCG’s Video Gaming Report 2026 argues that the industry is entering a “next era of growth” driven by four structural forces: generative AI, a maturing UGC ecosystem, cloud gaming, and the opening of app stores.marketresearchmedia+2
- Cloud gaming is tipping into the mainstream: 60% of surveyed players have tried it and 80% of them report a positive experience, pushing the market toward a hardware‑agnostic future where “console wars” matter less than ecosystem wars.bcg
- Global gaming revenue is projected to reach around $250B by 2026 and $350B by 2030, with mobile expected to account for 55%+ of revenue and subscription access models gradually displacing traditional ownership.techround+1
- By 2030, BCG expects an “explosion of gaming content” and omniplatform expectations, with multigame cloud subscriptions shifting developer focus from units sold to hours played, rewarding the stickiest experiences.bcg+1
This makes gaming a primary battleground for time, spend, and IP, not a sidecar to film/TV.
UGC, communities, and social gaming
User‑generated content and social formats are becoming integral to game value and to wider entertainment ecosystems.
- BCG’s global survey finds 40% of gamers consuming more UGC than a year ago, signalling that creator‑made levels, mods, videos, and streams are now core to gaming, not ancillary.bcg+1
- Analysts highlight “social gaming as gateway to long‑term community participation”: simple multiplayer formats act as ice‑breakers leading into ongoing conversations, friendships, and shared experiences around game worlds.techround
- Market‑research notes that 2026–2030 growth will be powered by GenAI tools (simplifying asset creation), UGC platforms, and cross‑game economies, pulling more players into both making and consuming content.sigma+1
This UGC momentum reinforces gaming’s role as a laboratory for fan‑driven IP evolution, with implications for how franchises are developed and extended into other media.
Transmedia IP: games, shows, and theme parks
Gaming IP and film/TV IP are increasingly intertwined in cohesive transmedia strategies.
- License Global’s fandom report cites studios like Legendary and CD PROJEKT RED using transmedia storytelling to create unique, interconnected experiences across TV, games, merchandise, and theme parks, with each medium adding new lore rather than simply repackaging the same story.elaris+1
- Legendary takes franchises like Dune and the Monsterverse into mobile and console games, while simultaneously developing films based on game IP such as Street Fighter, illustrating bidirectional flow between games and screen.licenseglobal
- A dedicated IP Integration track at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2026 focuses on integrating IP “without alienating your audience,” underlining how crucial cross‑media coherence has become to franchise strategy.pocketgamer
In this model, gaming is often the deepest, most immersive expression of an IP, with other media acting as on‑ramps and amplifiers.
Platform convergence and ecosystem battles
Finally, 2026 marks a shift from device wars to ecosystem wars.
- BCG predicts that as cloud gaming and opened app stores mature, “the console wars will become increasingly irrelevant” and the real competition will be between omniscreen ecosystems underpinned by cloud technology and subscriptions.marketresearchmedia+1
- TechRound experts foresee media giants moving deeper into gaming not as experiments but as strategic pillars, pointing to Netflix’s growing mobile catalogue and Disney’s investments in casual games as early signals.techround
- Market analysts argue that leaders who master community, algorithmic discovery, and engagement‑oriented business models (subs, battle passes, microtransactions) will define gaming’s next decade and, by extension, the cross‑media IP landscape.linkedin+2
Net effect: in 2026, gaming becomes the central nervous system of transmedia franchises—the place where audiences spend the most time, co‑create the most content, and expect to see their favorite worlds evolve—while film, TV, and other media adapt around this gravitational centre.licenseglobal+3
- https://www.bcg.com/publications/2025/video-gaming-report-2026-next-era-of-growth
- https://marketresearchmedia.com/gamings-next-expansion-wave-2026-2030/
- https://www.licenseglobal.com/entertainment/special-report-fandom-and-entertainment
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gonzaloscaglia_the-gaming-industry-is-entering-the-next-activity-7407124705515679744-SYCA
- https://techround.co.uk/tech/expert-predictions-for-gaming-tech-in-2026/
- https://www.bcg.com/press/9december2025-gaming-industry-emerges-from-post-pandemic-slump-gamers-playing-more
- https://sigma.world/news/5-igaming-trends-shaping-2026-the-age-of-convergence/
- https://elaris.new/blog/he-man-transmedia
- https://www.pocketgamer.biz/full-3-event-pocket-gamer-connects-london-2026-schedule-revealed/
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- https://www.ey.com/en_us/insights/media-entertainment/2026-media-and-entertainment-trends-simplicity-authenticity-and-the-rise-of-experiences
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- https://www.marketingweek.com/trends-marcom-2026/
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jose-pepe-rodriguez_video-gaming-report-2026-how-platforms-are-activity-7407228207369986049-VJHr
- https://www.oceanmediainc.com/2026-media-trend-predictions/
