In 2024, video games and music strategist and consultant Mat Ombler logged just over 1,550 stories highlighting the continued growth of the video game industry’s music section, including music games, soundtrack releases and composer interviews.
In a LinkedIn post from January this year, Ombler noted a growing interest from music companies, mainly through strategic investments, synch deals, partnerships, in-game events and virtual concerts. Along with Eric Tan, owner of creative agency Sway and former head of music (APEC) at Riot Games, and Kenny Vaughan, director of new business and music supervisor at Feel for Music, the trio made their predictions and insight for the year ahead.
Ahead of his upcoming appearance as an expert speaker at the Beyond Games: Transmedia Summit in the new year, Ombler recently shared an update saying that he felt they, “Were pretty much spot on with our predictions for music and gaming trends in 2025!
𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗼𝘅 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 – 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 ✅
Yup! The three major Roblox experiences from the majors are now digital graveyards and the focus on activations in Roblox and Fortnite has been on integrating music and assets rather than creating something new.
Why? Owned activations on UGC platforms require maintenance and updates to sustain DAU in the same way as any live-service game. Labels and music companies are not game developers (at least, not yet…)
Labels and music companies are not game developers (at least, not yet…)
Mat Ombler
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗛𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲 (𝗨𝗘𝗙𝗡) ✅
Sony Music has been leading the way here with their activations via Sony Immersive Music Studios. A Sleepy Hallow concert in April reached 16.3k concurrent players – a significant jump compared to earlier activations – but the major triumph was when a concert for PartyNextDoor in UEFN experience hit 500k players. Barriers for entry into Fortnite have dropped with the launch of Fortnite Creative as artists no longer need to rely on official support from Epic Games to do activations (although that support will always help with numbers!)
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗶𝗼𝘁 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗧𝗼 𝗥𝗮𝗺𝗽 𝗨𝗽 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 ✅
I’m gonna share more info on this next year but I’ve tracked more music and gaming activations/collaborations this year than any other year to date. One of the biggest areas of growth has been anthems – where game studios collaborate with major artists to write original songs for game marketing beats and content updates (AKA the Riot Games WORLDS anthem model). Final Fantasy XIV’s collaboration with Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) and Beartooth is a great recent example of this.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲-𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 ✅ ❌
50/50 on this! It’s been a weird year for mobile as I’ve noticed a drop in DAU for the major players (PUBG, Free Fire) and there haven’t been any major live-service new releases. I still think this will happen in the future!
𝗜𝗳 𝗚𝗧𝗔 𝗩𝗜 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱, 𝗜𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 & 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 ✅❌
It will, but it didn’t – and the jury’s still out on whether it will launch in 2026!”
Join Mat Ombler at the Beyond Games: Transmedia Summit on January 20th – as part of PG Connects London – for an intimate discussion around the trends in music and games. Topics will include what works (and doesn’t) in licensing and partnerships, examples of best-in-class music game integrations, trends across VR, Roblox, Fortnite and PC Gaming, as well as what’s ahead in the years to come. Register for your tickets here.
Steve is an award-winning editor and copywriter with more than 20 years’ experience specialising in consumer technology and video games. With a career spanning from the first PlayStation to the latest in VR, he's proud to be a lifelong gamer.
