'There's been a huge shift in gaming and we all know it': Three decades after LEGO video games, the world's biggest toy company reveals how it's staying relevant amidst seismic changes in gaming
Blog Andrew Joseph 30 Nov , 2025 0
30 years ago, LEGO took its first tentative step beyond physical toys with Fun to Build, a Japanese-only game for the largely forgotten Sega Pico console. Thirty years later, the mighty LEGO brand's video game ambitions have now become a diverse empire of its own, a suite of digital experiences designed to cater to diversity and taste.
There's a good reason for that – as anyone who follows video games knows that the industry's growth has also been accompanied by massive changes, including continued shifts in the way players access and own games – as well as generational differences in why games are so important.
For many, the idea of LEGO video games remains synonymous with the prolific work of TT Games, a British development studio that has created dozens of licensed games, including popular franchises such as Star Wars, Batman, and Harry Potter. But the LEGO brand now adorns numerous other experiences from other well-known creators, such as the recently published LEGO Voyager in Annapurna, or the Nintendo-like LEGO Party. And then there are lego fortnite —More on that later.
Across LEGO's vast gaming portfolio, the company's new senior vice president of LEGO Games, Fredrik Löving, and its senior product chief, Kari Vinther Nielsen, said the company is clear that the video game world has changed and will continue to do so as younger generations who grew up on games like Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite (Lego's primary audience) seek connected, social experiences on broader platforms. But at the same time, the brand knows it also has to cater to more traditional gamers.
“Really understanding today’s kids is always the most important thing,” Loewen said. “There's been a huge shift in gaming, we all know it, we've all seen it. Gaming means something different to the generation growing up today. When I was growing up on the Amiga 500, I was escaping a world, I was escaping the screen, and I was playing these games with a very clear purpose.
“Today, the number one goal for kids growing up is to find an activity to do in a social space with friends. Second, that's what the activity actually is.” That observation rings especially true after this summer's massive increase in players for games like Grow a Garden and Steal the Brainrot, experiences that helped break engagement records for Roblox, a social gaming platform that Lego has so far shied away from.
“Gamers are fundamentally different,” Loewen continued. So where does LEGO go from here?
“I was lucky enough to work on LEGO World,” recalls Nelson, a LEGO sandbox game that lets players build complex models using digital blocks. While it was successful enough, it was a product of its time – despite the Lego branding, it never seemed to cause trouble for the already dominant Minecraft, the game it was often compared to. Still, its ambitions are clear. “To me, this demonstrates what physical bricks are in the digital space,” Nelson continued. “We have fans creating models, creating worlds, creating stories, and I think that’s really the power of digital games, you can create and share in a different way than you can in the real world.
After more than a decade at LEGO, Nelson said the conversations she had about the World Series idea remain “the same stories and the same things we talked about.” “We need to mix IP, we need to figure out what is the digital version of the physical expression. What is the true game version? I don't think the conversation has changed that much,” she continued. “It’s more about really adapting to the way kids play today and being open to how to diversify play, how to be inclusive, to provide the right type of play for the world that kids live in. I think that’s actually where we’ve made a lot of progress in the last few years.
“Kids really see video games as a way to stay social and a place where they can meet up with their friends,” Nelson continued, echoing Loewen's previous words. “Of course, we want to be present in a safe and positive way, but I think that's just the type of play and the type of play that we as a LEGO brand really need. It's not just about having one version for gamers, it's about having a diverse portfolio that caters to different play needs and different moments.”
LEGO has demonstrated this approach over the past few months, launching a Mario Party-style LEGO Party the same month as indie puzzle platformer LEGO Voyager to promote cross-generational multiplayer. “Lego Party, that's really where I want to be with my friends or family,” Nelson noted. “At the same time, LEGO Voyager was a test of my relationship, I'm not going to lie. There was a bit of 'go away, this is what I'm playing with right now.'”
Then there's LEGO Fortnite, which continues to evolve every week. It's hard to gauge how its overall success so far compares to expectations, especially when compared to a viral hit like “Grow a Garden.” But its most important product, LEGO Fortnite Odyssey, remains an evergreen hit and will soon receive its next big update (which fans expect will add characters from the popular Ninjago series). Meanwhile, role-playing sim LEGO Brick Life has a smaller audience but is currently hosting a major Simpsons takeover. A core appeal of LEGO here remains the ability for players to build and craft their own mini-games – something that should become easier to do and potentially more advanced over time.
“My daughter loves the universe, the characters, the story and the narrative,” Nelson said of the LEGO Fortnite mode. “We're starting to really grow and expand the opportunities for creators to make their favorite LEGO games and tell their stories through play. It's really early days in this space,” she continued. “It's not that there hasn't been digital construction or digital creation in our portfolio over the past 30 years, but the world around it has changed and the platforms and the pace of creation have changed. When Fred came on board, we had this (joke) of, 'You're used to making a game that takes five years, and I can do what you do and do it in four hours.'”
While that may not yet be true for a game as polished as TT Games' upcoming LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, some of LEGO's early creations can certainly be recreated in today's Fortnite, such as Lego Islandthe brand's second video game (and its first true digital hit). “It's just a different reality with the right partners and the right creators to create experiences and test new things and try them out in a faster way,” Nelson said.
“Going back to what I mentioned about really understanding today’s gamers,” Löving added. “Co-creation, agency, all the things you just mentioned. They are quickly, if not already, becoming table stakes for many experiences, especially the big platforms.”
That being said, LEGO's more traditional gaming experience isn't completely gone either – as next year's LEGO Batman: The Dark Knight Legacy will prove. It's one of the biggest and most popular gaming shows of the year and recently received a very positive response during Gamescom 2025. For LEGO, the experience it provides remains an important part of its brand offering.
“I passed Star Wars on to my son through the LEGO game The Skywalker Saga,” Loewen said. “For a father to be able to actually have an experience like this with his son, it means a lot – not just playing together, but passing on a fan base through the fact that it's a LEGO game. Even before I joined the company, I was inspired by, 'How can we make this happen? How can we do this and really make it a generational game?'”
“Our brand stands for a lot of things, and I think there are moments where you really get into it, like you’re immersed in a six-hour course,” Nelson affirmed. “I play traditional board games, and I know it takes a long time. I'm invested, and if I can actually play with some of my friends or family or collaborate on the couch, that's even better. That's awesome, and I think that's what TT Games does so well.”
As LEGO enters its fourth decade in the digital realm, it's clear the company's ambitions extend beyond simple static plastic. From its foray into simple robots with MindStorms to more recently incorporating interactivity into LEGO Super Mario bricks, it's clear the company is keen to experiment with what's possible in gaming. LEGO Dimensions, the brand's experiment in the toy-come-to-life category, is another example of a focus on IP mash-ups and adventures that could be considered a precursor to today's LEGO Fortnite.
Ultimately, though, Nelson says it's all about finding the right type of drama for the right audience. “Sometimes, there's a time for a game, and then you can almost take that game into the present, or into the future with different styles and twists,” she said. “It's no different than our LEGO versions of Darth Vader or Batman. I think it has generational significance.”
Tom Phillips is IGN's news editor. You can contact Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social