At Pocket Gamer Connects London 2017, Simon Usiskin, Co-Founder of iQU.com, led a panel in a discussion on the true value of IP in mobile games.

Joining him were;

Melisa Bunce, CEO of B-Hive Associates;
Mike Hawkyard, Managing Director of Amuzo;
Anil Mistry, Managing Director of Good Catch Games, and;
Dittmar Tukker, Founder of GAMEDIA.

"You need to feel that you actually trust the person you're giving your IP to," said Bunce, suggesting the licensors are most interested in knowing that the developer understands and loves the brand, not just if they will make money.

"Don't just think about big, huge, massive IPs," added Hawkyard, saying you don't necessarily need to get the biggest brand on your side to boost your game, but "smaller" IP can be effective too if it suits your game.

"It's about timing, it's about picking the right ideas," suggested Mistry, saying that sometimes getting involved in an IP can completely backfire if the brand suddenly becomes uninteresting, such as a TV show being cancelled just before your game launches.

"The brand guidelines are longer than any design documents," joked Tukker, remarking that trying to work with IP can be incredibly difficult depending on the brand, with managers trying to make changes and make sure your game is identical to the brand identity and characters.