Gaming at LEGO turned 30 last year. The company noted the milestone in its record 2025 results (DKK 83.5B in revenue, up 12%, at a 26% operating margin), where "Gaming at LEGO" covers both digital and physical products: from AAA games on consoles to gaming-IP bricks on the shelf. For most, LEGO is best known as the bricks we've played with since childhood, plus the series of adorable IP-driven video games starting in the early 2000s. Closer observers might also be aware of the LEGO Fortnite integration since 2023. Collectively, LEGO's gaming ecosystem is far more storied and expansive.

The portfolio includes more than 200 games across three decades. Today we see a console franchise whose latest entry is the best-reviewed LEGO game ever made, a Fortnite mode that has logged over a billion player hours, seven Roblox collaborations pulling roughly 480M monthly plays, a $1B stake in Epic Games, and a year-old London studio in stealth mode. This is the story of LEGO's gaming roots, how it is quietly starting to change, and what comes next.

Lost Pieces

LEGO’s earliest digital titles, LEGO Island and LEGO Creator, were built on the premise that players wanted digital sandboxes. LEGO Universe followed the same philosophy. The $125M building MMO that launched in 2010, pulled in 2.3M registered players, and then closed inside 15 months when too few of them paid to stay. LEGO Worlds in 2017 was similar, an open build-anything game that sold about 185K copies in its first week, then gradually faded.

Console: Licensed to Build

For years, LEGO's own digital efforts stayed, as CEO Niels Christiansen put it, "a little bit fragmented" and"relatively small." In both LEGO Universe and LEGO Worlds, it pursued the "obvious" sandbox-building approach but was ultimately overshadowed by Minecraft. And today, the closest thing LEGO has to a hit games machine is one it does not own. 

Starting with the iconic LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game in 2005, TT Games the Warner Bros. studio behind two decades of LEGO Star Wars, Batman, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and Marvel games, made the games while LEGO licensed out the brand. Warner's then-CEO said in 2014 that LEGO games had moved more than 100M units for over $2B (which is the last time anyone put a public number on it). The exact revenue split has never been disclosed, but a partnership that has run for twenty years clearly suits both sides. LEGO takes a brand royalty on the games, the same way it pays a royalty to Disney or Warner for the right to make Star Wars and Batman sets in the first place.

This business is still chugging along. LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight launched last month as the highest-rated LEGO game ever (84 on Metacritic; 1.2M units sold and $83M in revenue in week one). It was also built in roughly 18 months on Unreal Engine 5 instead of the five-year, crunch-heavy grind behind 2022's Skywalker Saga. 

It also ships with a brick hook: physical sets unlock in-game cosmetics, LEGO's first brick-to-game tie-in of its kind since Dimensions (more on that later). 

It’s also worth noting that when TT's exclusivity lapsed in 2022, LEGO handed a multi-game license to 2K, broadening its console portfolio into LEGO racing and sports, starting with LEGO 2K Drive in 2023. 

Mobile: Where The Money Isn’t

On mobile, the list of sunset LEGO mobile titles is long: LEGO Quest & Collect (a Nexon RPG, delisted after ~1.9M downloads), Legacy: Heroes Unboxed (Gameloft, killed twice, the second time on Netflix in 2025), the Tencent sandbox LEGO Cube that stalled in China… and the list goes on. 

Companion apps like Builder, Insiders, and education apps together pull around 1.9M downloads a month and earn nothing; they exist to support the physical product. The games LEGO licenses out do earn but barely: across its entire free-to-play mobile catalogue since 2018, net revenue totals roughly $18.7M, a rounding error for a company that books DKK 83.5B ($13B) a year.

Two-thirds of that F2P revenue comes from StoryToys’ LEGO DUPLO Marvel, which targets preschoolers and monetizes through a modest subscription and Marvel content packs. It is the only audience where LEGO has let a paid mobile model run, and even there the estimated net revenue is only around $12M.

Several of its higher-production titles sit on Apple Arcade, where there is no IAP, no ads, and engagement KPIs are undisclosed. Among them: LEGO Star Wars: Castaways, a social multiplayer game that shipped in 2021 and was quietly sunset by 2023, and LEGO Builder's Journey, a meditative, Monument Valley-style puzzler. Even Hill Climb Adventures, LEGO and Fingersoft's one genuinely free-to-play swing in 2024, netted only about an estimated $365K and shipped with an ad-free Arcade edition alongside it. 

Whether that reflects deliberate policy (protecting a trusted brand from aggressive monetization) or plain economics (preschool parents may be the only audience where the subscription math and the CPIs work), the result is the same. Mobile is a brand channel. The bricks are the business.

Epic Playdates

TT Games went four years between mainline console releases, but LEGO gaming was not idle. LEGO Fortnite launched in December 2023 and briefly drew 2.45M concurrent players, a weekend bigger than Fortnite's own Battle Royale. It has stayed busy: a survival mode (Odyssey) and a social mode (Brick Life), a two-part Ninjago expansion across late 2025 and 2026, and a Star Wars Mandalorian crossover in May.

The engagement is real: Odyssey has logged over a billion player hours, even if its concurrent players now sit in the 8,000 to 23,000 range on a typical day, eighth on Fortnite's most-played board (Brick Life barely registers, at around 1,600). Revenue is harder to pin down, because LEGO and Epic don't break it out, and how much of it reaches LEGO is another question. Odyssey and Brick Life are Epic-published modes, so their item-shop spending flows to Epic, and LEGO's 15% share applies only to creator-built LEGO Islands, with the LEGO-branded corners of Fortnite carrying lighter monetization than the rest of the game. For LEGO, revenue was likely secondary, and what matters most is successfully building brand affinity with millions of players, including the younger generation.

Roblox is the quieter second front. Over the past year LEGO ran (at least) seven licensed events inside top experiences (Fisch, Driving Empire, Sonic Speed Simulator, and others) reaching about 480M monthly plays, all built by outside studios like Gamefam and Voldex.

In addition to simple brand exposure, LEGO appears to be thoughtful about the timing of these Roblox collaborations. For example, Sonic Speed Simulator's concurrent players roughly doubled during a 2025 LEGO event that coincided with a new wave of LEGO Sonic brick sets launching, and the Batman crossover in Driving Empire coincided with the recent console game launch.

LEGO is driving brand awareness and engagement on both of the leading platforms for kids games. On Roblox, coordinated collaborations with leading titles can be more surgical short-term marketing activities for new toy or AAA game launches. Fortnite (in which LEGO is significantly invested) is a longer-term strategy — a multi-year destination where kids (and adults) can build brand affinity over time, in both on and offline play (LEGO Fortnite bricks also contain DLC for the game). Both plays are valid, and will likely continue to evolve over time. 

Phygital: Chip Of The Ol’ Block

The third front is the most LEGO of all: wiring the brick itself to a screen, resulting in several more high-profile hits and misses. LEGO Dimensions (2015) entered the toys-to-life category after Skylanders and Disney Infinity proved the demand, sold about four million copies in four months, then died with the whole category inside two years (Disney took a $147M write-down and shut its studio; Skylanders, once a $3B franchise, was also shelved). 

LEGO Super Mario (2020) took a different approach by putting the technology inside the brick itself. Players build physical courses using interactive bricks and a Mario figure that responds to coins, enemies, and other elements. While a companion app exists, the core gameplay takes place away from the screen.

The concept proved successful. The line has remained active for six years, a relatively long run for a LEGO theme, although sales have gradually tapered over time. The electronics are set to retire in 2027 as Mario becomes a standard minifigure. While the interactive Mario line may be nearing its conclusion, the technology behind it remains central to LEGO's future plans.

This year, LEGO unveiled SMART Play, essentially "version 2" of the above. As Creative Play Lab SVP Tom Donaldson put it, "LEGO Super Mario was tremendously successful for us, but it was also challenging because it wasn't a platform." SMART Play is the platform answer: one patented chip and a Bluetooth protocol meant to run across themes instead of rebuilding the tech for each line. It is eight years and 20 patents in the making, and product chief Julia Goldin has likened it to a games console.

Unfortunately, initial signals are mixed, citing price (too much) and fun (not enough). The Star Wars launch sets were 20-36% off on Amazon within twelve weeks, unusual for LEGO at that age, with sub-three-star ratings and some weak reviews. Twelve Pokémon SMART Play sets follow in August, and their holiday sales are the real test of whether the platform earns a third wave.

LEGO Digital Play: Beyond the Brick?

For decades, LEGO has smartly relied on licensing, letting others build LEGO-themed video games. LEGO Digital Play may mark the return of first-party games again. Set up in early 2025, it is run by Aaron Loeb (Scopely's chief business officer between 2020 and 2023), with a small, senior team: Bjorn Book-Larsson (ex-Roblox and Epic, where he ran avatar and identity work), Christine Brownell (a sandbox designer whose career runs from WoW to Media Molecule), and Raffaele Fragapane (an ex-Epic MetaHuman lead who rigged characters for The LEGO Movie in 2014).

The funding behind it is real and growing. The "Other LEGO Holding activities" line-item expense more than doubled to DKK 2.1B ($330M) in 2025, with the holding company naming "developing a digital play organisation" as a driver. LEGO Group's CFO is listed as managing director of the LDP holding entity, and Group CEO Niels Christiansen said LEGO will now make its games in-house and that he would "almost rather overinvest." This signals the end of the pure license-it-out era. 

So what is LDP building? Loeb won't say and won't even commit to bricks stating that "it might not even be brick-based." He has framed the goal as a long-term, systemic place for the brand in digital, not another quick release. LEGO is not even completely focused on kids. As early as 2021 LEGO's then-VP of games, Sean McEvoy, said the company bet that LEGO Digital Play could reach "broader and more inclusive audiences ... more adults, a more diverse and inclusive kids audience, and more preschoolers."

The early guess is something mobile- and Roblox-shaped, but whatever route is pursued, LDP has to navigate the brand expectations. LEGO is the name parents already hand to their kids without a second thought, and that needs to be preserved.

Aside from new revenue, a first-party LEGO platform and games would let the company own the player relationship and the first-party data it has always handed to Epic, Roblox, and retailers. Until anything is announced, we can only speculate on the details.

All the Pieces are in Place

LEGO’s video game strategy is perhaps stronger and more diverse than it’s ever been before. It will continue launching mainline console and PC games, build out its Fortnite experiences, market through third-party experiences on Roblox, and rethink its first-party strategy. LEGO has 30 years of gaming successes and setbacks to draw lessons from, and we’re excited to see what LEGO Digital Play spins up. Whether it can produce a breakout hit remains to be seen, but we expect continued evolution. LEGO's gaming ambitions are entering a new phase. The company has the talent, capital, experience, and brand recognition to pursue them, and the next few years should reveal just how far it intends to go.

A Word from Our Sponsor: Dive

Stop Guessing Why Your Players Churn

Most game studios are sitting on player data they can’t actually use. Reports are late, systems don’t talk to each other, and the insights that should be driving decisions are stuck in spreadsheets nobody trusts.

Dive fixes that. It’s a fully managed BI-as-a-Service platform built specifically for game studios — combining data engineering, analytics, segmentation, and an enterprise LiveOps system into one solution, without requiring an in-house data team.

95% of Dive clients grow revenue in their first year. Results across the portfolio include revenue uplifts of 2,000%+, 25% ARPDAU increases, and retention improvements driven by automated “likely to churn” player journeys — all delivered by a team that has operated at the highest levels of the game industry.

In Other News

💸 Funding & Acquisitions:

• France-based trading card games platform CardNexus has raised ~$4.1M (€3.5M) in a pre-Seed round.
• UK-based games development software company Breaking Change has raised a funding package of over $1.34M (£1M).
• Türkiye-based mobile racing & simulation games developer Spektra Games has received an undisclosed investment from APY Ventures.
• Japan-based romance games publisher Voltage has acquired Japan-based game developer and anime studio OperaHouse for an undisclosed sum.
• France-based video games publisher PULLUP Entertainment has divested its entire stake in France-based PC & Console narrative games developer Douze Dixièmes to the studio’s founding partners for an undisclosed sum.
• Tech company Affle acquires AdColony assets to expand mobile advertising reach.

📊 Business & Products:

• Where Winds Meet makes $22.1M on mobile in six months outside China.
• Dream Games and Peak Games responsible for over 80% of Türkiye’s games revenue.
• Sony AI releases Woosh foundation model for sound effect generation.
• G2 partners with PUBG Mobile Esports to grow Western Europe competitive scene.
• EA rolls out Advertising platform to let companies market "directly into gameplay".
• ClarityQ launches game-native AI analytics platform for mobile game studios.

👾 Miscellaneous:

• Mobile and Roblox experiences earn nominations at 2026 Games for Change Awards.
• Sonic lead says AAA developers have much to learn from indie studios.
• Up to 80% of mobile devs say engagement strategies are losing effectiveness.
• UKIE welcomes video games being classed separately from social media as UK government announces ban.
• Roblox rolls out Roblox Kids and Roblox Select Accounts.

Content Worth Consuming

The Devs of Chinese Hit The Scroll of Taiwu on What Western Devs Get Wrong in China — and Why They Rejected Generative AI (gamesindustry.biz): “Long before the global success of Genshin Impact and Black Myth: Wukong, The Scroll of Taiwu from ConchShip Games pointed towards the potentially huge market for Chinese-developed titles. The game, an RPG based on wuxia and Chinese mythology, launched on Steam in Early Access on September 20, 2018, at a point when Steam's Chinese audience had rapidly expanded to more than 30 million users. Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad noted at the time that Steam had originally gained popularity in China thanks to the rise of Dota 2, but the addition of more China-developed and Chinese language games, as well as regional pricing and local payment methods, had helped attract more gamers from the nation.”

Own Your Players, Don’t Rent Them — D2C, Creator Codes & the Shadow Server Economy | Liam Wiltshire, GM of Tebex (GameMakers): “Epic spent five years and over $100M breaking the platforms' 30% tax — then cut V-Bucks by 20% to "pay the bills." If the company that won the fee war still gets squeezed, what does that say about everyone else? The answer isn't about fees. When AI makes content infinite and attention stays finite, the only asset that appreciates is the direct relationship with your players — the one distribution channel that gets cheaper the stronger it gets. And a nearly invisible economy of community-run game servers has been proving its dollar value for fifteen years.”

The DEFINITIVE Guide to D2C in 2026: Real Numbers from 8 Studios (two & a half gamers): “Matej Lančarič, Jakub Remiar, and Felix Braberg are joined by Chip Thurston (FastSpring) for a D2C deep-dive built around the Pocket Gamer report aggregating publicly disclosed D2C revenue. They break down the three cohorts (social casino, mid-core, casual) and what each tells us, the standout data points (Playtika at 39% of revenue, Fishing Clash at 33%, Double Down at 44%), the difference between direct-checkout links and web stores and why you need both, Google's new External Content Links policy, the still-unapproved Epic v. Google settlement and its 20% linked-payment fee, where Apple's appeals stand after the Supreme Court declined to hear them, and the single most actionable takeaway: maximize US D2C traffic today, while you can still steer without fees. The window is open right now. It won't stay open forever.”

The Big Xbox Matthew Ball Interview: “The Console Market Is Not Dying” (The Game Business): “This edition of The Game Business Show is with Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball, recorded on stage at The Game Business Live on Monday, June 8. In this candid conversation with the Xbox leader, Ball shares the thinking and vision behind console exclusives, the frightening DRAM crisis, China, in-game advertising, streaming, working with Asha Sharma and the future of his famous industry reports. ”

Dosa Divas’ Chandana Ekanayake Talks Food, Music, and Indie Development (The AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook): “Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Chandana Ekanayake of Outerloop Games. Together they discuss developing his newest game Dosa Divas, including the origin of the narrative and using food as a storytelling device; weaving together story with combat; the importance of the introductory hour of gameplay; his views on risk and team size; and his thoughts on working in indie development.”

Why “Don’t Rock the Boat” Fails Game Dev Teams (Building Better Games): “Many game dev leads survive by following a simple, unwritten rule: don't rock the boat. But staying silent when you see a broken system isn't "playing it smart,” it’s dodging your responsibility. True leadership isn't about having a perfect record or a flawless game plan; it’s about having the courage to stand in the public square, plant a flag, and risk being wrong for the sake of your team. In this episode, Benjamin Carcich breaks down the uncomfortable reality of what it actually means to lead in an agency-based industry like game dev. He exposes the two primary traps leaders fall into when trying to avoid vulnerability - hiding in plain sight or forcing absolute compliance - and shares a personal story of failure that forced him to choose between self-preservation and the work.”

More About Naavik

Naavik's team of experts has helped over 300 companies — publishers, studios, tech companies, and investors — better succeed across the video game industry. We'd love to work with you too! Here's what we offer, spanning all platforms, genres, and regions:

• Strategy Consulting: Projects covering market research, corporate strategy, game & economy design, gamification, live ops strategy, AI strategy, product management, brand & performance marketing, and more.
• M&A and Investment Advisory: Expert commercial due diligence for buyers, fundraising support for sellers, and fractional CFO/CSO services.
• Fractional Talent: The one-stop shop for top-tier fractional talent covering dozens of game industry roles (analytics, design, marketing, art, QA, and more).

Check out the links above for more details. And if you'd like to chat about how Naavik can support your team, click the box below or send us a note at [email protected].