How the content licensing market is formed

1) Who's Who: Members Map

Copyright holders (IP-holders): Media majors (film/series/music), sports leagues/clubs, show formats, influencer brands, artistic imagery and characters, and patent holders/mechanics.

Providers/studios: develop a game for IP (slots, live shows, instant/crash, bingo/lotto), carry production and technical support.

Publishers/platforms (publishers/RGS): distribution, integrations with operators/aggregators, GTM and live-ops.

Aggregators and markets: summarize content and operators, provide reporting and calculations.

Operators: showcase, payment rails, promo, tournaments, support and RG.

Labs and regulators: RNG/mathematics certification, advertising control/feature, local requirements.

Agents/consultants: intermediaries in IP transactions, clearing rights, "chain of title."

2) What exactly is licensed

Trademarks, characters, visual and sound elements. Logos, names, appearance of heroes, corporate colors and fonts, sound motifs.

Narrative and lore. Scenario scenes, slogans, key phrases (with restrictions on context).

Mechanics and technology. Proprietary features/engines/patents (e.g. line/cluster/jackpot variants), SDKs, and modules.

Promotional assets and talent. The right to use trailers/frames/art, names/voices of actors, likeness rights.

Distribution rights. Territories, channels (online/mobile/live), languages, RTP pools, deadlines.

3) How deals come about: Supply and demand

Demand drivers: struggle for showcase, fast CR of the first session, organic at streamers, cross-promo with premieres/seasons, access to new demographics.

Drivers of the proposal: monetization of IP outside the mainstream media, extension of the franchise life cycle, hypothesis test on a new audience.

Market triggers: high-profile TV shows/films, seasonal sports peaks, new regulations, B2B consolidation, success of competitors with similar IPs.

4) Monetization and money models

MG (minimum guarantee) + royalties: advance payment to the copyright holder, then% of the proceeds (after commissions of aggregators/operators according to the agreed calculation base).

Net rev-share: no MG - above% at start or KPI escalators.

Fee for mechanics/engine: fix +% for proprietary features/patents.

Exclusive windows: timed-exclusive/feature-exclusive/geo-exclusive - surcharges and marketing commitments.

Side packages: Season 2 renewal, skin packages, live events, merch/talent collaborations.

What affects the price:

strength and relevance of IP (peak season/release), coverage and demographics forecast;
volume and quality of rights (territory/channel/term/scope), depth of assets (video/voice acting/talents);
partner's distribution capacity (how many operators/markets will be covered);
risk profile of jurisdictions, compliance forecast, complexity of localizations;
GTM plan and advertising obligations of the parties.

5) Legal architecture of the transaction

Chain of title: confirmation of rights, absence of conflicts/encumbrances, rights for secondary use and remake options.

Scope & terms: territories/term/channels/languages/form factor (slot/live/instant), frequency limits, prohibitions on "sensitive" topics.

Approval workflow: brand guide, art/animation/audio/build approval stages, response time and "tacit consent."

Reporting and audit: format of uploads (by operators/geo/currencies), frequency, right to audit.

Guarantees and liability: indemnity for violations, insurance, mechanics of settlement of disputed cases.

Republicensing: ability to attract co-girls/outsource, ownership of results (code/assets), restrictions on transfer.

Data & privacy: telemetry, personal data, cross-border transmission, compliance with local laws.

6) Product side: how IP is turned into a game

Match IP ↔ mechanics. The choice of genre and feature that organically "carry" the meaning of the franchise (scene-episodes, collections, "modes").

Economics and RTP/volatility. Profiles under jurisdiction and audience IP (mainstream vs high-volatility).

Localization. Texts, voice acting, fonts (including hieroglyphic/RTL), cultural filters.

Technical quality. Build weight, FPS, stability on "gold" devices, support for portrait mode, accessibility.

Live-ops. Seasons for premiere/match schedule, missions and leaderboards, temporary "super modes," skins without changing certified mathematics.

Brand safety. Visual/sound effects limitations, age ratings, content correctness.

7) Go-to-Market and Marketing Responsibilities

Exclusive windows and display cases. Operators have upper shelves, thematic collections, early access.

PR packages and creative. Trailers, key art, press whales, streamer demos, promo tokens/freespins.

Release calendar. Synchronization with the season premiere/tournament; wave launches by region.

SLA promotions. Mandatory mailings/banners/tournaments/jackpot events, minimum budgets of the parties.

Collaborative metrics. Target by launch-rate, watch-time at streamers, CTR showcases, tournament participation.

8) KPI and health analytics of the license

On-launch: CR on first launch, CTR banners/carousels, average session length, feature uptake.

Retention/monetization: D1/D7/D30, ARPU/ARPPU, buy-feature share (within RG), jackpot participation.

Showcase: operator/geo coverage, proportion of top shelves, number of streams/clips.

Reputation: CSAT/NPS by support, dispute rate, median cashout time (for B2C cases at the operator).

IP-specific: compliance with brand guides, speed of approvals, frequency of edits, absence of incidents/complaints of the copyright holder.

9) Risks and how they are insured

Legal: conflicts of rights, claims of third parties, errors in clearing. → Due diligence, insurance, indemnity, reserve for disputes.

Compliance: differences in requirements by country (RTP, features, advertising). → Pre-certified profiles, regional builds.

Grocery: miss match IP and mechanics, "road without gameplay." → Prototypes/vertical cuts, user tests, streamer previews.

Commercial: IP revaluation, low storefront, portfolio cannibalization. → Escalators/rate revisions, release window plan, A/B storefront.

Operating rooms: failure to meet deadlines, long updates. → Clear approval calendar, "tacit consent," buffers.

Technical: weight build/pen/incidents. → SLO/alerts, "gold" devices, regression automation.

10) Market formation trends

B2B consolidation: Large publishers are taking on the role of "license aggregator" by building co-brand factories.

Modularity of rights: feature-exclusive and geo-exclusive instead of "hard" global exclusive.

Data-driven deals: KPI escalators in royalties, real-time dashboards for the copyright holder.

Cross-media synchronization: releases for season premieres, sports calendars, merch and offline activations.

Regulatory upgrade: transparency of reporting, RG requirements, standardization of log/reports.

IP on mechanics: growing interest in licensing proprietary mathematics/engines, not just visual/lore assets.

Local-IP: regional brands (series/sports/shows) for local markets with fast time-to-promo.

11) Checklist of negotiations with the copyright holder

Scope rights: territories/channels/languages/term, republicensing/co-dev.
Assets: video/audio/talent, volume and quality, adaptation rights.
Approval SLA: stages, response time, brand safety criteria.
Economy: MG/royalties/fee/escalators, calculation base, exchange rate/currency, reporting.
Compliance: certification/advertising, age ratings, restrictions feature.
GTM: showcases/tournaments/streams/PR, minimum market commitments.
Data: metrics, upload format, access to dashboards, privacy.
Risks: indemnity, audit/right to audit, crisis communication plan.

12) "Is this license right for us" assessment framework (L.I.C.E.N.S.E.)

1. Leverage: will IP give showcase/exclusive/streamer organics?

2. Integration: Does the genre/mechanics/platform match the DNA of the portfolio?

3. Compliance: Are we regulated in key geo?

4. Economics: Are MGs/royalties on our cages and distribution paying off?

5. Narrative fit: lore and visual organically fall on features?

6. Schedule: in time for the "information peak" of the franchise?

7. Execution: do we have resources/partners for production and live-ops?

13) What is important to the operator

Clear conditions promo, seasonal events, tournament grid.

Transparent rules/wagers and correct RG screens.

Build stability, mobile optimization, fast first paint.

IP reporting for public PR (without disclosing sensitive data).

The content licensing market is formed at the intersection of law, economics and product. A successful license is not only a loud logo, but a carefully designed system: the correct scope is right, a realistic economy (MG/royalties/escalators), reliable compliance, organic game design and GTM/live-ops discipline. Teams that build licensing as a process - with data, SLAs, and transparent reporting - turn IP into a long-lived portfolio asset rather than a one-time media outbreak.