Lockdown has driven explosive growth in the gaming sector, as a way to both stay connected with others and distracted from the news (see Key Stats) – motivating, mainstream media outlets to establish or firm up their connections to gaming audiences.

American newspaper The Washington Post's gaming vertical Launcher took off in October 2019, while in April 2020, US news organisation Bloomberg added gaming to its new industry insights newsletter Screentime, which covers the future of entertainment (describing gaming as "a business that eclipsed Hollywood years ago").

In August, US tech magazine Wired announced the October 2020 launch of Wired Gaming.

Film and TV production companies are securing rights to tell stories that originated in gaming. Following the success of its 2019 adaptation of The Witcher (76 million global household viewings), 7.6% of Netflix's upcoming TV adaptations will be based on video games (Ampere Analysis, 2020). In June, Netflix announced a 10-episode anime series based on Polish The Witcher developer CD Project Red's upcoming game Cyberpunk 2077, which took the award for best game at Gamescom 2020.

Meanwhile, HBO is developing an adaptation of the zombie apocalypse game The Last of Us, and Indie hit My Friend Pedro will be adapted into a show by the writer of the John Wick films.

Disney has partnered with Fortnite to host an entire season that crosses into the (Disney-owned) Marvel comics universe. The new season launched on August 27, which will run until November 30 2020, is called Nexus War, and lets players unlock Marvel heroes including Iron Man, She-Hulk, and Thor to defeat supervillain Galactus who threatens Fortnite's game world.

Marvel simultaneously released a comic (online and in print) to explain how Fortnite and Marvel's universes came to overlap.

Disney also used Gamescom's opening night to announce a Star Wars tie-in for life simulation series The Sims. The Star Wars: Journey to Batuu game pack will bring signature characters, items, and environments from the film franchise to The Sims games. See also TBS Launches Sims Reality Competition Show.

League of Legends (which has 80 million active monthly players) is extending its relevance with shrewd media partnerships and companion content, produced in-house.

On August 24, Spotify unveiled a partnership with US League of Legends developer Riot Games for editorial audio content distributed through Spotify's app. The deal covers curated playlists and podcast series covering Riot Games' esport leagues. Already confirmed is Untold Stories: Top Moments from Worlds, a nine-episode series leading up to the 10th League of Legends world championship from September 25 to October 31 in Shanghai with top esports athletes' interviews. There will also be behind-the-scenes insight into the creation of the Worlds Anthem, a song Riot releases every year to celebrate the championship.

Music plays a large role in the League of Legends community: the game's official artist account on Spotify compiles the game's soundtracks as well as the Worlds Anthems, other tribute songs, and works by K/DA, a K-Pop group made up of characters from the game which has over five million monthly listeners. For existing players, League of Legends' sprawling music catalogue as well as an animated series being produced in-house add depth to the gameplay experience. For those who have never played, they are new entry points into the universe.

Games like Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft, and Crayta – where player-creators build levels and items with the community – have brought forth a highly creative generation of gamers who even receive commission on items other players like. See Roblox in our report Powering the Brand of Self in the Dynamic Youth: Gen Z Spotlight.

The next phase of this is social gaming ecosystems as we're seeing with Nintendo's Animal Crossing (22.4 million copies sold), where anything from a dress design (check out Creative Content: Fandom Fills the Gap) to a new song can be published into an instantly playable game world.

British mobile developer Gismart combines creative collaboration with monetisation channels with its Games for Artists programme, which lets musicians promote themselves and their work in Gismart's games through music integrations or walk-ons of lookalike characters. Also, artists who contribute to games creatively will also receive profit shares.

As games become co-created environments, access points for brands open up. In August, we saw women's personal care brand Gillette collaborate with a graphic artist to launch a body-positivity campaign through the costume creation tools of Animal Crossing.

Friendly competition is a good-vibes environment for brand engagement. With millions of new players entering gaming, accessible competitive gaming that does not require a hardcore gamer's dedication to score a win against other online players is compelling the masses.

August 2020's mega-hit Fall Guys – which sold seven million copies in three weeks – puts a playful spin on the Battle Royale format: 60 contestants at a time compete against each other in a series of mini games (some of which are in randomised groups to share the pressure) instead of facing off against single players in armed combat. Gameplay is quick, takes equal amounts of skill and luck, and alleviates performance pressure without compromising the joy of victory.

Meanwhile, Super Mario Bros 35 Nintendo will turn the classic platformer game into split-screen face-offs for 35 players at a time. Each player runs through levels simultaneously but on their own, and enemies they defeat are sent to other players' courses, until only one player survives.

In early September, US alcoholised water brand Bud Light Seltzer hosted a casual tournament among gaming content creators. Instead of assembling the best esports athletes, one title, "Battle of the Best" tapped into the energy of friendly couch competition by making (non-gaming) influencers challenge each other across four popular games from across genres (Warzone, Halo 3, Golf with Friends, and Fall Guys).