POWERING FANDOM FROM CONSOLE TO CULTURE
Gemma Cooper, games publicity director at DDA, explains why building fandom matters, and how you can do it without sacrificing what makes your game unique
G
ames, film, and television are no longer separate worlds. Audiences and fandoms don’t just play a game or watch a series
anymore – they actively seek out and explore universes. They move from Netflix to TikTok, Discord to YouTube, Wiki to Reddit – looking for communities and content that expand the story and the immersion into a franchise. For marketers, this means building campaigns that serve two goals at once: keeping loyal fans engaged whilst inviting new audiences into the world. This isn’t new to us, of course. Films like
Resident Evil and Tomb Raider showed, even decades ago, that video game IP could live beyond the console. But where these adaptations were once unique, box office gambles, video games have fast become the hottest IP in the game, coming with huge production budgets and box office expectations to match. This acceleration in scale, speed and ambition for IP development brings new creative opportunities, but also challenges. Brands need to create campaigns that
24 | MCV/DEVELOP October/November 2025
reach new platforms and fresh audiences, without eroding the connection that the game-playing community have with the property. Retention and acquisition are fundamental. At DDA, we’ve seen the most effective
entertainment campaigns create moments that unite new and existing audiences across formats and are creatively driven by fandom. Let’s discuss why this approach matters, and how to do it without losing what makes an IP special.
FANDOM IS PLATFORM-AGNOSTIC Fandom has evolved far beyond its traditional rules. There was a time when being a fan meant fitting into a category - a ‘gamer,’ a ‘film lover,’ a ‘box-set binge watcher’. These labels defined how people consumed content, and rarely did those worlds overlap to create a significant cultural impact. But that’s changed. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a perfect
example of how fandom has expanded across formats. Comic book readers became film audiences. New fans drawn in by the movies went
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
