Skybound Entertainment investment thesis: 300 IPs, one comic-first pipeline
Summary
Skybound Entertainment's comic-first model stress-tests 300+ IPs at low cost before graduating winners to TV and games.
Walking Dead game revenue exceeds $1B; Invincible generates $450M for Prime and hit 1M players in two weeks.
The company is shifting from licensor to self-publisher via its internal AAA studio, Quarter Up.
"We've made so many billions of dollars for our partners... but we want to make sure we're rewarding not just our creators and ourselves, but also our investors."
01
Comics incubate IP cheaply; TV and games only follow proven traction
Skybound launches IP in comics, podcasts, or board games first.
Only properties with real audience signal graduate to film and TV.
Platform partners then spend tens of millions promoting the IP.
Games come last, once fan depth can sustain hundreds of hours of engagement.
"We first create it in a low cost but high quality environment... test it with an audience, see if there's signal."
300+ IPs at varying lifecycle stages create a staged pipeline, not a single-bet franchise.
02
Walking Dead crossed $1B in game revenue; Invincible is replicating the curve
Walking Dead: No. 1 independent comic ever, No. 1 cable show globally, still top 3 in all dramas on Netflix.
Game revenue across Telltale, Scopely mobile, and VR exceeds $1B.
Invincible: 100% Rotten Tomatoes across four seasons, viewership doubled from season 1 to season 4.
Ranked No. 1 show and No. 1 revenue show on Prime at $450M generated.
Alpert calls Invincible the cheapest show in Prime's top 10 - "massive ROI."
Invincible VS hit 1M players in two weeks with tens of thousands of daily matches.
03
Quarter Up studio signals shift from licensing fees to owned economics
Historically Skybound licensed IP out: Telltale, Scopely, Ubisoft.
Quarter Up, an internal AAA studio in LA, developed and published Invincible VS.
Licensing still continues alongside self-publishing - Goldman calls it expanding, not substituting.
"We want to take as much control over what we're doing, not only to get all of the benefits, but also to control the quality."
In-house comic publishing, animation, and game development remove licensing approval friction.
04
Shrinking Western game growth makes pre-built fanbases a structural advantage
Matthew Ball's data: net Western publisher growth is effectively zero after backing out Roblox, China, and platform fees.
IP with existing fanbases bypasses the cold-start marketing problem killing most new launches.
Goldman frames games as the last unconstrained monetization model in entertainment.
Players spend proportionally to enthusiasm, unlike fixed Netflix or ticket prices.
Major publishers are reducing third-party licensing activity.
"You can't count on [licensing] as the only business model, given the number of publishers who are doing licensing."
05
Opening a California AAA studio while the state lost 47% of global gaming layoffs
Skybound opened Quarter Up in LA while most studios offshore or shut California operations.
North America lost 11% of game jobs over four years, per researcher Amir Satvat.
California accounted for 47% of all global gaming layoffs in 2025.
Goldman's counter: at the highest competitive level, great talent can trump cost advantages.
"I would love to see more support from our state government and our national government of creative industries, the way that other countries have been able to eat some of our lunch."
Events
Companies
Games
Locations
North America
COMPILED BY GAMES ATLAS EDITORIAL
RELATED ARTICLES
EXPLORE MORE
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!