The future of games & tech — 5 key takeaways from the RE:FORMAT Summit

Collaboration is one of the defining forces in the games, digital creative and tech sectors — shaping how studios grow, products are delivered and innovation happens.

This context set the tone for this year’s FORMAT Group Games and Tech Summit, which we were proud to sponsor, host and participate in.

The event brought together senior voices to examine the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of the sectors — and here, Paddy Fearnon and Andreas Petrou break down the main insights that emerged.

Key takeaways  

1. Collaboration is increasingly a requirement for growth

RE:FORMAT has established itself as an important forum for the UK games and wider creative and tech communities, creating space for open, practical conversations about how businesses can grow, adapt and collaborate more effectively.

A consistent theme throughout the day was that growth in games and tech increasingly depends on collaboration — not only creatively but commercially and operationally. Across studios, publishers and service providers, delivery often relies on multiple parties working together across different specialisms and stages of development.

The Manchester Summit was sold out, reflecting the strong appetite within the sector for events that bring founders, investors, creators and advisors together to share experience and insight. Throughout the day, discussion focused on innovation and the relationships and structures needed to support it.

2. Investment decisions are becoming more selective & operationally focused

While access to investment remains a key issue for the sector, the discussions reflected a market that’s increasingly focused on execution as well as vision. Investors are looking for clear delivery models, credible roadmaps and an understanding of the practical realities involved in bringing products to market.

For businesses, this reinforces the importance of being able to demonstrate not just a strong concept but a clear plan for delivery, including how third‑party dependencies are managed and how risk is allocated across collaborations.

3. Publishing models continue to evolve but delivery mechanics remain critical

While the range of publishing and funding models continues to expand, many of the underlying challenges remain consistent. In particular, discussions highlighted the importance of aligning expectations around delivery, performance and reporting from the outset.

In practice, this often comes down to how well key issues are defined early on, including scope, milestones, payment structures and what happens if priorities shift during a project. Clear alignment in these areas can be as important as the commercial terms themselves.

4. Marketing & audience growth require structure as well as creativity

Influencer marketing and community engagement remain central to how games and creative products reach audiences. However, as these approaches mature, there’s an increasing emphasis on consistency, accountability and long‑term brand management.

For businesses, this means balancing creative freedom with clear frameworks around approvals, rights and use of content, ensuring that marketing activity supports broader commercial objectives without creating unnecessary legal and commercial risk. It’s also critical that where required, appropriate intellectual property (IP) license contracts are put in place to manage the use of a rights holder’s content. 

5. Emerging tech present opportunities but require careful governance

Emerging tech such as generative AI continue to shape how products are developed, distributed and experienced. At the same time, they introduce new considerations around control, ownership and responsibility, particularly as tools become more embedded within production workflows.

The discussions reflected a growing awareness that the key challenge isn’t simply adopting new tech but doing so in a way that’s structured, accountable and aligned with long‑term business objectives, as well as being legally compliant and without infringing other parties’ IP rights.

Legal insights on collaboration & risk management from our experts

Andreas Petrou and Lauren Hicks from our games & interactive entertainment team delivered a session on collaboration in the tech, games and digital creative sectors, covering the key themes and legal reflections. 

The session explored what collaboration is in practice, examples of real-world collaboration and typical legal structures that come up when collaborating with others.

They identified nine key legal considerations for parties to be aware of:

1. Confidentiality: what information is being shared, how is it protected and for how long?
2. Scope & duration: what’s being delivered, by whom and within what timeframe?
3. IP: what does each party bring in, what’s created and who owns/uses it?
4. Financials: what’s paid, when and what reporting or audit rights apply?
5. Liability and indemnities: what risk is each party taking, what’s capped and what’s insured?
6. People: who’s doing the work and are there any key personnel considerations?
7. Data: what data is involved, who owns it, how can it be used and reused and what restrictions apply?
8. Change, disputes & exit: how’s change handled, how are disputes managed and what happens if the relationship ends?
9. Marketing & publicity: what marketing activities are permitted, what approvals and brand guidelines apply and how can each party use the relationship for publicity or portfolio purposes?
    

The key takeaway was that while collaboration can unlock significant innovation and commercial value, it’s critical that expectations, responsibilities and risk are clearly understood and aligned as early as possible. Legal agreements considered and entered into at the right times create a strong, legally binding framework for such collaboration and a solid foundation upon which parties can grow and achieve their commercial objectives. 

Backing innovation in games & interactive entertainment

Our games & interactive entertainment team works with founders and businesses across the games, tech and digital creative sectors, providing legal and strategic advice from company set‑up and investment through to tech and software development, publishing, supply of services, IP protection and management, regulatory compliance and dispute resolution.

As the sector continues to evolve, proactive collaboration supported by strong legal foundations will be key to unlocking innovation and growth. 

To discuss your next collaboration project or any other aspect of doing business in the games, interactive entertainment, creative and tech spaces, call us on 0333 004 4488, send us an email at hello@brabners.com or complete our contact form.