By Gavin Boyle
Disney bought a $1.5 billion stake in Fortnite two years ago, and video games remain a vital platform for Hollywood to promote its projects to young audiences through.
“What is worth noting right now is the fact that all the major film studios are activating on these platforms to promote the movies,” Nic Hill, co-founder and chief innovation officer at video game marketing company Sawhorse Productions, told Variety. “I would say the entertainment industry, more than any other vertical, is the most committed and the most consistent in the way they’re showing up. Basically any movie that is PG-13 or under from a major studio is on these platforms.”
Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox remain the most common platforms for these experiences as they have major player bases and lend themselves to the creation of brand new experiences catered for an IP. These platforms continue to make marketing easier, and last summer, Roblox announced a streamlined process for companies to create games.
Related: Disney Buys $1.5 Billion Stake in Fortnite Developer Epic Games
“This is the perfect bridge between a platform like Roblox that’s used to moving at such a quick pace and brands that are trying to identify the appropriate partners,” Todd Lichten, head of entertainment partnerships at Roblox, told Deadline when announcing the streamlined IP service.
“This new IP platform gives brands the ability to quickly scale the work that they’re doing on the platform by identifying many different potential developers,” he continued. “On the flip side, a lot of these devs may not have licensing teams and it gives them the opportunity to actually work with IP that they love, but they may not otherwise had access to.”
Meanwhile, many of these games effortlessly serve as branding for movies based on their own IP as Hollywood continues to adapt the most popular video games for shows and movies.
In 2025, A MINECRAFT MOVIE was one of the most popular movies of the year, grossing just shy of $1 billion at the box office, and now has a sequel on the way. Meanwhile, THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE is in theaters now and currently stands as the most successful movie of 2026, grossing $894 million at the global box office less than five weeks after its release.
Hollywood continues to look to video games to support the industry – whether through marketing or for ideas – and will likely continue to do so as the partnership between the industries keeps proving to be extremely lucrative for all parties involved.
Read Next: Has Another SUPER MARIO BROS. Movie Been Confirmed?
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