You can expect many things when October comes around: leaves start falling from the trees, pumpkin spice lattes go on sale, and - inevitably - a slew of IP collaborations hit major titles. Maybe it’s just part of the spooky season, or perhaps it’s the sheer nature of horror characters. Whatever the reason, there’s no doubt Halloween has become a major event on the games industry calendar, with a ton of collaborations between brands every year.

But Halloween crossovers aren’t just about the screams; they’re also about having a positive impact on a game’s performance and audience appeal. That’s something we’ve seen first-hand working with Crytek to bring Ghost Face into the world of Hunt: Showdown 1896. 

Ghost Face’s inclusion in Hunt: Showdown 1896 was notable as it went a step further than most other Halloween collaboration events to make sure this iconic killer’s inclusion into the game world felt authentic. For example, despite being an ongoing franchise, Ghost Face lends itself to the late 90s when the first film was released. As its name suggests, Hunt: Showdown 1896 is set over a century prior, which meant that Ghost Face’s usual design needed some timely alternations. The killer’s iconic white mask is instead made of wood, while his black robe is replaced with a tattered, battle-worn duster. 

These alterations to the character are a prime example of how to make your collaboration fit in with a game’s wider world. As this is Hunt: Showdown 1896’s first horror collaboration, it was important that the IP blend nicely into the game's world. Hunt: Showdown 1896 already has a penchant for demons, monsters, and other supernatural ghoulies – which comprise a large portion of the title’s core gameplay – so a bloodthirsty killer like Ghost Face fits well with the overall sinister stylings.

Of course, bringing a 90s horror icon into the lore of Hunt will be a new experience for many, and users may have mixed feelings about the rationale behind a collaboration like this. Crytek has emphasised an important aspect of IP collaborations that is vital to a successful integration. As they put it, the goal is to work with IPs and personalities that “remain true to their brand while blending seamlessly with [Hunt: Showdown 1896’s] themes, setting, and storytelling.” 

As with all good collaborations, Crytek has avoided “simply drop[ping] new characters into the game, but to write compelling new narratives involving these crossovers to create a richer experience for established players and invite new players into our world with a few familiar faces.” Moving into IP collaborations can stir up the community, but it’s often an important and necessary step in bringing players into an established franchise.  

Looking at some of the other titles that decided to get into the Halloween spirit this year, unsurprisingly, the most significant pickup was from games with existing survival horror elements. Perhaps Dead by Daylight is the most notable Halloween hotspot, as it has welcomed a huge assortment of horror movie villains over the past few years: from Chucky (Child’s Play) to Sadako (Ringu) and even the Xenomorph (Alien). This year is no different, with the isometric multiplayer title (which sees five players become survivors, and an opposing player become the killer) bringing Dracula to its roster. 

But it’s not just the major movie monsters that haunted games this October, as we also saw the surprise announcement of Terrifier: The ARTcade Game. The gore-filled movie franchise might not seem like a natural fit for a retro-style beat-em-up game, but it only demonstrates the power that licensing collaborations can hold when timed right. In the case of the Terrifier game, despite not being available to play for at least another year, the announcement got much more visibility as it coincided with the third movie’s $18m box office splash. 

The spooky season was also marked by some terrifying tunes, with LoFi Girl collaborating with SEGA for the 10th anniversary of the sci-fi horror classic Alien: Isolation. Again, this was yet another example of the importance of timing when it comes to IP collaborations. This crossover’s impact was elevated by the hype around Creative Assembly’s announcement of a sequel and the immense box-office performance of the latest film, Alien: Romulus, which stands as the second-highest-grossing film in the entire franchise. 

If you still don’t believe us when we say timing is everything, just look at Marvel: Strike Force. This mobile title used October to promote all things supernatural from across the Marvel universe, including vampire hunter Blade (who prominently featured in Deadpool & Wolverine), as well as new content featuring Scarlet Witch and Agatha Harkness (tieing directly into the Disney+ show Agatha All Along). There were also zombified variants of fan-favourite Marvel characters like Iron Man and Juggernaught.

For those of you who are big fans of horror films and all things spooky, these collaborations are a surefire way to grab your attention and encourage you to jump in. And for those less on the brave side, there’s still plenty of appeal in taking control of some of horror’s most renowned characters without having to face sitting through a scary movie. 

Speaking more generally, seasonal events like Halloween, Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day and others are a good way to overcome the biggest challenge that license holders face: identifying collaborations that make sense for both parties. Seasonal events can help lower this entry barrier by providing opportunities for IP holders to find natural integrations around popular times of the year. Halloween is a particularly great example of this, as costumes are already a huge part of the event, opening the doors for all sorts of opportunities to encourage players to “dress up” as their favourite characters and integrate spooky brands.

Using the IP of established entertainment franchises for video games is nothing new, especially when a production studio is leading the charge. Perhaps the most well-known example of this was LucasArts’ expansive portfolio of Star Wars games that spanned over 50 titles, many of which were produced in tandem with the prequel trilogy. More recently, we’ve seen film studio Blumhouse enter the games space, taking its established reputation for horror movies and using that to select small developers keen to produce games of the same genre. 

However, the most exciting example is the proposed merger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global, which was announced earlier this year. If it goes ahead, the combination of Paramount’s roster of established IPs with Skydance’s growing respect in the games industry could be a match made in heaven. 

For those out of the loop, Paramount and its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, agreed to sell the company to David Ellison’s Skydance, which has two internal game studios. Of course, mergers may not always lead to all-new titles, but in this case, video games appear to be front and centre. On an investor call, “Animation, Sports and Games” were the three main areas of focus outlined for the merger. So it’s safe to say that should the deal go ahead, Paramount IPs will likely appear more frequently in the games market. 

Paramount has had some limited experience licensing its titles into the games industry, particularly around its film properties. Notable examples include The Warriors (Rockstar Games, 2005), The Godfather (Visceral Games, 2006), World War Z (Saber Interactive, 2013), and A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead (Stormind Games, 2024). Looking ahead, there are also plans for a fully-fledged Avatar: The Last Airbender game, as well as a horror title based on the Paranormal Activity franchise.

What may be apparent from these examples is that many Paramount IPs have had the video game treatment at some point in time. However, very few have become established game franchises, and fewer still have garnered commercial or critical success. As we often highlight, IP collaborations need to be strategic, and if the result is poorly timed or fails to resonate with the target audience, it can often fall flat. 

Skydance on the other hand has made great strides in the licensed games space, with titles drawn from IPs such as The Walking Dead, the Foundation sci-fi TV series, and even the Terminator Franchise. It even has respected industry figures Amy Henning and Julian Beak working on Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra and a yet-to-be-announced Star Wars title. Leaning on Skydance’s experience in the industry could enable Paramount better utilise the licensing potential of the robust IP it has at its disposal. 

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At the very least, we suspect Skydance will be able to help Paramount identify the titles that hold the most promise for a fully licensed game and earmark those that would benefit from collaborations inside the live events pipeline of existing titles—enabling the company to appeal to a wide range of ages and demographics.

For example, The Godfather, Mission Impossible, and Star Trek would be perfect for a big-budget action-focused experience. Meanwhile, Paw Patrol and Blues Clues would be well suited for crossovers in kid-friendly titles. There’s even the potential for a dedicated flight simulator based on Top Gun. Even Paramount’s IP that doesn’t naturally lend itself to the video game genre could be lucrative; just look at the popularity the indie-made Frasier game generated last year. 

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While we’ll have to wait to see if this merger is approved, it does highlight a growing trend within the modern games landscape. Major non-game brands are starting to recognise the power of their IPs and the potential they have in the video game industry. There will no doubt be an ongoing focus on how this merger progresses and the potential it may have—not just for Paramount IPs but the wider entertainment industry as well.