John Friend – Head of Xbox Gaming Consumer Products at Microsoft– to deliver day one keynote at BLE 2024

John Friend – Head of Xbox Gaming Consumer Products at Microsoft– is to deliver the day one keynote at BLE 2024.

The session – ‘When Everyone Play, We All Win’ – will take place on Tuesday, September 24th at 12:30PM. It will take the form of a fireside chat with Global Licensing Group’s EMEA Head of Content, Ben Roberts, and is set to explore the dynamics of the video game industry – including the opportunities that brands, licensees and retailers have to strengthen connections between gaming worlds and fans.

“Our goal has always been to fuel our community’s fans and fandom with best-in-class products at a global scale,” said Friend.

“We have the privilege to represent the biggest and best portfolio in the industry with franchises ranging from Fallout, Halo, Call of Duty and so many more. We thrive in finding ways to develop and celebrate our franchises outside of the games and be that extension of these fandoms via premium products and experiences brought to life.

“I am honoured to be selected as the keynote at this year’s BLE to discuss the state of licensing in the gaming industry, as well as Xbox’s strategy across its broad catalogue of hit game franchises – and how we seek to move people from interested to fan to evangelist through fresh and innovative consumer products programs!”

BLE event director Ella Haynes added: “When it comes to using consumer products to tap into global opportunities presented by fandom, the Xbox team is the gold standard and we can all learn a thing or two from them, so I’m over the moon that John Friend will be presenting our Day One keynote at BLE this September.

“With a global valuation of over $200 billion – more than film, TV and music combined – and three billion active players, the video games business is back to growth and looking strong. The biggest game of 2023 was Hogwarts Legacy – a whopping 22 million copies were sold – a game based on the Harry Potter license. The link between gaming and brand licensing is growing stronger year on year with consumer products proving to be an incredibly valuable tool in elevating fandom and loyalty by allowing fans to immerse themselves even deeper in the brand and its storylines, especially between release dates.”

BLE takes place from September 24th to 26th at ExCeL, London. Visitors can register for a free pass here.