Beyond one-hit wonders: The rise of franchise thinking
As the iGaming market matures and competition intensifies, suppliers are increasingly looking beyond individual game launches to build lasting product franchises. Rather than chasing one-off successes, the focus is shifting towards creating recognisable IP that can evolve across mechanics, themes and product verticals.
BetGames’ Chief Product and Business Development Officer, Ian Catchick, explores what is driving this strategic shift, while Head of Product, Adam Lahouiri, outlines what defines a successful franchise.
What market dynamics and industry trends are driving the shift in strategy towards franchising?
Ian: Market standards are continually rising, and this places greater emphasis on high-quality game propositions as a minimum expectation. When a title is built that players love, it is key to develop a future iteration that is both familiar to the original, but also consistent with the product proposition, evolving the customer experience further.
In the case of our Skyward crash game series, we have added new content to the franchise that builds on the original game, and innovative features that capture player imagination. We are starting to see more and more players enjoying the experience across the entire product family as their loyalty and trust in the brand continues to grow. A good franchise strengthens the original brand promise, innovates, and takes players on a journey that delivers fresh yet familiar experiences.
At what point does a single game become a franchise opportunity? Is that decision made during the development phase or post-launch once success has been realised?
Whilst you are always planning for success, not every title will be a hit, so your roadmap must be agile. We spend a great amount of time monitoring player behaviours with a focus on key metrics that help us understand when we have a competitive game. And then, as with all roadmaps, we have a broad range of concepts, features and propositions that we can introduce as we evolve a successful game.
It is important that we create sticky games that players enjoy returning to, and once we make the decision to invest in a franchise, our core focus is on building the next generation. Through close monitoring, we then determine the optimum time to introduce the next instalment to maintain maximum momentum and player enjoyment.
In the case of our crash game series, we are about to launch the third-generation game, once again adding features and mechanics never experienced before. These align with the ambitions of the original, but add in that extra dose of innovation and sparkle to ensure we keep pushing boundaries and creating new experiences.
Do you see the future of iGaming belonging to suppliers with a handful of recognisable franchises, similar to other entertainment industries, or will players always be driven by discovering the next new game?
Players need and deserve choice, and in my opinion, there is room for both. However, we feel that when we build a game that players clearly love, it is our obligation to ask ourselves how we can improve the next generation of that franchise, matching player expectations of constant improvement.
There is such fierce market competition, and it is therefore pivotal that you prioritise innovation irrespective of whether it is a franchise or not. Some games deserve to be standalone heroes, and others have natural franchising potential. Whilst I don’t expect every new game to form its own brand, there are some titles that are so familiar, and in some cases, so niche, that a franchise is the natural route to take players on a journey through product evolution.
Adam
One of the strengths of a franchise is familiarity, but players also crave novelty. How do you strike that balance?
The key is to understand what players actually connect with and protect that, while giving each new release a clear reason to exist. A franchise should provide familiarity through its identity, core experience and overall quality, but it cannot simply repeat the same game with a new visual layer.
With the Skyward series, the crash mechanic and aviation theme provide that recognisable foundation. However, Skyward, Skyward Deluxe and the upcoming Skyward Storm each introduce different features and changes to the experience. Players should be able to understand the game quickly because it feels familiar, but still discover something they have not played before.
It is a delicate balance. Change too much, and the value of the franchise is lost. Change too little, and players will question why a new title was needed at all.
When you're taking an established IP into a new product vertical, what elements are non-negotiable?
The first non-negotiable is the core promise of the IP. Before moving into another vertical, we need to be clear about what makes that franchise recognisable beyond its name or visual identity. It could be a particular feeling, style of play, character, world or signature feature.
That promise then needs to be translated into the new format rather than copied directly. A mechanic that works well in a crash game may not work in the same way in a slot, live casino game or instant game. The objective is to preserve the personality and player appeal of the franchise while designing an experience that feels natural for the new vertical.
Quality and accessibility also have to remain consistent. Players who recognise an IP arrive with expectations, so every extension needs to feel like a credible part of the same family rather than a product carrying a familiar name for promotional purposes.
From a product perspective, how does franchise thinking influence your roadmap?
Franchise thinking encourages us to look beyond the performance of an individual launch and consider how a product can develop over time. That influences feature planning, technical architecture and even the way we collect and interpret player feedback.
Instead of treating every release as a completely separate project, we can identify which parts of the experience should become long-term foundations and which areas can evolve between titles. The progression from Skyward to Skyward Deluxe and now Skyward Storm is a good example. Each release allows us to build on what players already understand while exploring new features and levels of volatility.
At the same time, the roadmap cannot become entirely dependent on sequels. Original concepts remain essential because they create the franchises of the future. The aim is to maintain a healthy mix of new IP, continued support for existing products and carefully considered franchise extensions.
What will define the most successful iGaming franchise in the next five years?
The strongest franchises will be those that create genuine player recognition and loyalty, rather than simply producing a large number of similarly branded games. They will need a clear identity, be flexible enough to work across different mechanics and markets, but distinctive enough to remain recognisable.
They will also need to evolve alongside player expectations. That could include more personalisation, community-driven features, cross-game progression and experiences that give players a reason to engage with the wider franchise rather than only one title.
Most importantly, successful franchises will earn their longevity. Players will quickly recognise when an IP is being stretched too far or used as a shortcut. The franchises that last will be those where every release adds something meaningful, maintains a consistent standard and strengthens the player’s connection with the overall product family.