Lego is building an in-house video game development team

Lego has a long history in the video games sector between licensed titles that feature digital brick versions of iconic movie characters and physical sets like the new Mario Kart one. But after decades of third-party studios making games with the Lego name on them, the company is taking more of a hands-on approach.

“We can definitely say as long as we’re under the Lego brand we can cover experiences for kids of all ages, digital or physical, Lego CEO Niels Christiansen told the Financial Times. To that end, an in-house game development division "is something we’re building up." Per the publication, Lego plowed hundreds of millions of dollars into tripling its number of software developers to more than 1,800. “We have made quite a few investments in the future — I’d almost rather overinvest. That’s the benefit of being family-owned and long term,” Christiansen said.

It's unclear if Lego plans to stop working with external developers. That would be a risky move considering the equity that Lego games made by third-party studios have accumulated over the last couple of decades, given the likes of Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and the terrific Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. There have been a string of non-licensed games that have been good-to-great as well — for instance, I enjoyed Lego 2K Drive for the most part. Meanwhile, Lego Fortnite (bolstered by the main game's enormous popularity) has pulled in 87 million players.

Making video games is tough and Lego's game development team will have to nail the right mix of fun gameplay and the brand's trademark humor. Still, Lego can afford to take a swing at this point. The company outsourced things like game development and its theme parks while it was on the brink of bankruptcy two decades ago, but its core toy business has rebounded significantly.

Lego reported on Tuesday that its revenue grew by 13 percent in 2024 to DKK 74.3 billion ($10.9 billion) — nearly double what it pulled in five years previously — while its operating profit jumped up by 10 per cent to DKK 18.7 billion ($2.7 billion). Along with building up its gaming business, the company has bought back its Legoland theme parks as it again tries to diversify beyond its physical brick business.

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