Wipo and Global Game Jam collaborate on global initiative to help young creators build franchise-ready games

The Next Great IP Jam launched to inspire developers to create the industry’s next blockbuster franchise. Running from 9 to 27 October 2025, the virtual jam is a collaboration between the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and the Global Game Jam (GGJ). This initiative will engage young game developers between the ages of 15 and 35 in not only making a game but also understanding the role and relevance of IP throughout the creative and business process.

Jammers will design games with franchise potential, focusing on characters, branding, and merchandising. The jam simulates the IP commercialisation chain and highlights the importance of protecting original content from the outset. Through tailored knowledge sessions led by experts from around the world, participants will learn how copyright, trademarks, patents and design rights can protect and strengthen their creations, ensuring that the ideas they develop during the jam are truly IP-ready and capable of growing into sustainable franchises.

“Video games bring together technology, culture, and creativity to tell exciting new stories, and that makes them a treasure trove of intellectual property. From the code, game play and characters, to the storytelling, music, branding and merchandising, every part of a game can be protected and strengthened by IP such as copyright, trademarks, trade secrets, designs, and even patents,” said Wipo’s IP and Youth Empowerment Strategy (IP-Yes!) head  Todd Reves.

“Too often, game developers don’t realise the importance of IP until it’s too late. Next Great IP Jam will show developers why this is something you should be thinking about as soon as you start brainstorming, and we’ll make it fun,” GGJ executive director Maria Burns Ortiz commented.

This collaboration with GGJ is part of Wipo’s IP-Yes! initiative, which seeks to spark passion about IP among young creators, innovators and entrepreneurs.

The best games from each region will be announced the week of 17 November 2025. Winners will receive mentorship from industry leaders and a range of exclusive opportunities to showcase their work, develop their skills and build their networks.