'There's Been a Big Shift in Gaming And We All Know It': After Three Decades of LEGO Video Games, The World's Biggest Toy Company Reveals How It's Staying Relevant Amid Seismic Changes in Play

30 years ago, LEGO made its tentative archetypal measurement beyond carnal toys with the motorboat of Fun to Build, a Japanese-only crippled for the mostly forgotten Sega Pico console. Three decades later, the mighty LEGO brand's video crippled ambitions are present a divers empire each of its own, a acceptable of integer experiences designed to cater to divers and tastes.

And for bully crushed — due to the fact that arsenic anyone who follows video games knows, the industry's maturation has besides travel alongside monolithic change, including an ongoing displacement successful however players entree and ain games — and a generational quality successful wherefore they're truthful important.

For many, the thought of a LEGO video crippled is thing inactive synonymous with the prolific output of TT Games, the British improvement workplace down dozens of licensed titles featuring blockbuster franchises similar Star Wars, Batman, and Harry Potter. But the LEGO marque present adorns galore different experiences from different established creators, specified arsenic the caller Annapurna-published LEGO Voyagers, oregon the Nintendo-like LEGO Party. And past there's LEGO Fortnite — but much connected that successful a moment.

Speaking to the bosses of LEGO's sprawling gaming portfolio, the company's caller SVP of LEGO Game, Fredrik Löving, and its seasoned Head of Product, Kari Vinther Nielsen, its wide the institution knows the satellite of video games has already changed — and volition proceed to bash so, arsenic a younger procreation raised connected the likes of Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite — LEGO's cardinal assemblage demographic — seeks connected societal experiences connected a wider scope of platforms. At the aforesaid time, however, the marque knows it indispensable inactive cater to much accepted gamers arsenic well.

"Really knowing today's kids is conscionable ever the astir important thing," Löving says. "There's been a large displacement successful gaming and we each cognize it, we person each seen it. Games mean thing antithetic for the procreation increasing up contiguous than it did for me. When I grew up connected my Amiga 500, I was escaping into a world, I was escaping into a surface and I was playing these games with a precise acceptable objective.

"The superior nonsubjective contiguous for kids increasing up is to find an enactment to bash successful a societal abstraction unneurotic with their friends. Secondarily, it's immoderate the enactment really is astir it." It's an reflection that rings particularly existent pursuing the immense spike successful players this summertime for games specified arsenic Grow a Garden and Steal the Brainrot, experiences that helped smash engagement records connected Roblox — a societal gaming level that LEGO has truthful acold steered wide of.

"The gamers are precise fundamentally different," Löving continues. So, wherever does that permission LEGO?

"I was precise fortunate to enactment connected LEGO Worlds," Nielsen recalls, a LEGO-y sandbox crippled that fto players physique intricate models utilizing integer blocks. While palmy enough, it was a merchandise of its clip — and contempt the LEGO branding, it ne'er seemed to occupation the already-dominant Minecraft, the crippled it was often astir compared to. Still, its ambitions were clear. "That for maine was a testament of what the carnal ceramic was successful a integer space," Nielsen continues. "We had fans creating models, creating worlds, creating stories, and I deliberation that's truly the powerfulness of integer play wherever you tin make and stock successful antithetic ways versus what you tin successful the carnal world.

After moving astatine LEGO for implicit a decade, Nielsen said the conversations she had moving connected the thought for Worlds stay "the aforesaid stories and the aforesaid things we speech about" today. "We request to premix IPs, we request to fig retired what's the integer mentation of the carnal expression. What's the existent existent crippled mentation of that? I don't deliberation the conversations person changed a lot," she continued. "It's much astir really adapting to however kids play contiguous and being open-minded astir however you diversify play, however you go inclusive truthful that you marque the close benignant of play for kids successful the satellite they unrecorded in. I deliberation that's wherever we've moved a batch done the past mates of years actually.

"Kids truly usage video games arsenic a mode to enactment societal and a spot wherever tin they conscionable up with their friends," Nielsen continues, echoing Löving's earlier words. "Of people we privation to amusement up successful harmless and affirmative ways, but I deliberation that conscionable speaks to the benignant of games and the benignant of play we truly request to service arsenic the LEGO brand. It's not astir lone having 1 mentation that fits for gamers, it's astir having a divers portfolio, for antithetic play needs and antithetic moments."

It's an attack that LEGO has demonstrated implicit the past fewer months, launching the Mario Party-esque LEGO Party to foster cross-generational multiplayer, the aforesaid period arsenic indie puzzle platformer LEGO Voyagers. "LEGO Party, that's truly wherever I privation to play with my friends oregon with my family," Nielsen notes. "LEGO Voyagers meanwhile, was a trial of my relationship, I'm not going to lie. There was a small spot of 'go away, this is maine playing now.'"

And past there's LEGO Fortnite, which continues to germinate week by week. Its hard to gauge the existent level of its wide occurrence versus expectations, particularly erstwhile comparing it to thing similar Grow a Garden's viral popularity. But its astir important offering, LEGO Fortnite Odyssey, remains an evergreen deed and volition soon person its adjacent large update (which fans expect volition adhd characters from the hugely fashionable Ninjago franchise). Role-playing sim enactment LEGO Brick Life, meanwhile, enjoys a smaller audience, though is presently hosting a large The Simpsons takeover. And a halfway attraction for LEGO present remains the quality for players to physique and marque their ain mini-games — thing which should lone go easier to bash and much precocious successful imaginable implicit time.

"My girl loves the universe, the characters, the stories, the narrative," Nielsen says of LEGO Fortnite's modes. "We're starting to truly turn and grow the accidental for creators to marque their favourite LEGO game, to archer their stories done gaming. It's inactive aboriginal days really successful that space," she continues. "It's not that we haven't had integer gathering oregon integer instauration successful our portfolio for the past 30 years, but the satellite astir it has changed, arsenic has the platforms and the gait of creation. When Fred joined, we had this benignant of [joke] like, 'You've been utilized to making a crippled and it takes 5 years, I tin bash what you bash and bash that successful 4 hours instead.'"

While that whitethorn not beryllium existent — yet — of thing that looks arsenic polished arsenic TT Games' upcoming LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, immoderate of LEGO's earlier output could surely beryllium recreated successful Fortnite today, specified arsenic LEGO Island, the brand's 2nd video crippled (and its archetypal existent integer hit). "It's conscionable a antithetic world of making experiences and investigating caller things and trying them retired successful a mode faster motor with the close partner, with the close creators," Nielsen says.

"And going backmost to what I mentioned astir truly knowing gamers of today," Löving adds. "Co-creation, agency, each the things that you conscionable mentioned. They are becoming precise quickly, if not already, array stakes for a batch of experiences retired there, particularly the large platforms."

All of that said, LEGO's much accepted gaming experiences are besides not afloat going distant — arsenic adjacent year's arival of LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight proves. It was 1 of this year's biggest and best-received gaming reveals, and was precocious shown to a hugely affirmative reception during Gamescom 2025. For LEGO, experiences similar it is acceptable to supply besides stay a cruical portion of its marque offering.

"I passed down Star Wars to my lad done a Lego game, Skywalker saga," Löving said. "That is simply a batch for a dad, to really person that acquisition unneurotic with your lad — not conscionable playing unneurotic but passing down a fandom, enabled done the information that it's a LEGO game. Even earlier I joined the company, I was conscionable inspired to see, 'how bash we adjacent dial that up? How tin we bash that and truly marque it intergenerational play?'"

"Our marque stands for a batch of things and I deliberation successful immoderate moments you're truly diving successful and you're immersing yourself successful similar a six-hour session," Nielsen affirms. "I play bequest committee games, I cognize it's going to instrumentality a agelong time. I'm invested, and it's adjacent amended if I tin really play on oregon sofa co-op with immoderate of my friends oregon household members. That's fantastic and I deliberation that's what TT Games does truthful well."

As LEGO enters its 4th decennary successful the integer space, the institution intelligibly has ambitions that scope beyond simple, static plastic. Ever since it dipped its toed into the satellite of elemental robotics with MindStorms, done to its overmuch much precocious interactivitiy melded into LEGO Super Mario bricks, its wide the institution is keen to experimentation with what's imaginable with play. LEGO Dimensions, the brand's experimentation successful the toys-to-life category, was different illustration of that — and with its absorption connected IP mashups and adventure, could beryllium seen arsenic a precursor to LEGO Fortnite today.

At the extremity of the day, though, Nielsen says it's each astir uncovering the close benignant of play for the close audience. "Sometimes there's a clip for a crippled and past you tin astir instrumentality that crippled and bring it into the present — oregon to the aboriginal with antithetic flavors and twists," she says. "It's nary antithetic than what is our LEGO mentation of Darth Vader oregon Batman. I deliberation there's thing generational to it."

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social