With BLE 2025 on the horizon, we caught up with Victoria Justice, Consumer Products and Ecommerce Director, Rebellion®, who shared insights into the agency’s plans for the event as well as his take on the broader issues and possibilities shaping the licensing sector today.
Why is BLE to be an unmissable part of your yearly show/networking calendar?
Brand Licensing Europe presents a unique opportunity to connect with licensees, brands, retailers, and manufacturers that are shaping the consumer market today. For Rebellion® – one of the world’s most successful independent multimedia studios – BLE 2025 is an unmissable opportunity to discover and secure partnerships, opening up characters to new licensing opportunities with the world’s most influential brands.
Why should retailers and manufacturers visit your stand at BLE?
Rebellion® produces hit series that span video games, books, comics, TV, film, board games, and more at a global scale. Best known as the developer behind genre-defining games such as Sniper Elite® and Zombie Army®, Rebellion® is also the publisher of iconic comics including 2000 AD® featuring Judge Dredd® and Rogue Trooper®.
The consumer products division at Rebellion® is dedicated to unlocking merchandising and licensing opportunities across this extensive portfolio. The team will have a booth at Brand Licensing Europe to discuss taking partnerships even further, connecting brands with our audience who are excited to see their favourite characters expand in new ways – and actively want to support each universe as it grows even further.
By sharing a massively wide-ranging audience with licensees, Rebellion® presents the chance to connect with a highly engaged community, putting products directly in the hands of fans.
Which brands will you be highlighting at this year’s event?
Rebellion® has grown a reputation for producing high quality series that thrill and delight fans around the world. At BLE 2025, the team will be discussing opportunities around beloved IP such as 2000 AD®, Sniper Elite®, Zombie Army® and Atomfall®.
One of the main focuses for this year’s event will be 2000 AD®, Britain’s longest-running and most-celebrated sci-fi comic. An explosive, award-winning cocktail of scifi and fantasy, 2000 AD® has been at the cutting edge of contemporary pop culture since 1977. Distinguishing itself as “the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic”, 2000 AD® will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027 and Rebellion® is excited to speak with new partners about ways to commemorate this exceptional milestone.
Imaginative, hard-hitting stories and eye-popping art have made 2000 AD® essential reading – from the satire of lawman Judge Dredd and the war-torn world of Rogue Trooper, to the robot mayhem of the ABC Warriors and the stone-cold mutants of Strontium Dog.
Are you launching any new brands, or announcing any news at BLE?
Rebellion® is announcing a massive product expansion as part of BLE 2025. A range of products based on owned-IP have already launched, with more set to release in the coming months, including collections of apparel, accessories, homeware and collectibles.
Recent highlights include a collaboration with IGN to launch limited edition Atomfall® merchandise, a range of 2000 AD® collectibles with Fanattik, and ongoing product distribution through genre specialist Forbidden Planet. Embracing the trend for nostalgia and a resurgence of retro gaming IPs, the studio also launched a Rebellion® Retro line this year allowing fans to re-live their favourite classic games through fashion.
With a wide-ranging slate of partners now signed, beloved Rebellion® characters are set to branch out like never before.
What do you hope to achieve by exhibiting at BLE?
Rebellion® is putting what fans want at the heart of product strategy and will continue to extend our reach through strategic partnerships. At BLE 2025, we will meet with potential new partners on this journey as well as strengthen our existing relationships. By connecting with retailers, licensees and brands, Rebellion® hopes to leverage new and different product categories that will allow fans to relive Rebellion® IP. In return, our partners will receive powerful opportunities to engage and connect with audiences, tapping into the multi-billion-dollar video game and comic book markets that are continuing to grow.
Looking beyond the show, what do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities for licensing in 2025 and 2026?
More people are playing video games than ever before, which presents huge opportunity for licensing in 2025/2026. According to the latest figures from trade body, UKIE, this booming market is now worth £7.63 billion in the UK alone. Audiences are highly engaged and increasingly diverse, spanning age and gender demographics. Not only that, but brands can reach players in immersive and meaningful ways, giving fans more of what they love and more ways to engage – across both the digital and real world. Exciting collaborations and booming licensing avenues are available in accessories, clothing, collectibles, merchandise, books, soundtracks and beyond.
Brands need to adapt quickly in response to emerging trends. This extends beyond apparel into what experiences you can offer and how you tap into digital content. For example, anime and manga are booming in popularity – which raises the question of how brands can embrace emerging mediums to stay relevant, especially among younger audiences.
Likewise, comic book popularity continues to grow with TV and film adaptations exciting fans the world over, bringing these stories into the mainstream. Iconic characters like Judge Dredd® and Rogue Trooper® are championing this movement.
In terms of challenge, the retail space is increasingly competitive with many brands fighting for listings. It can prove tricky for buyers to trial new IPs when they have limited space. This makes 2000 AD® a unique proposition. Over almost half a century, 2000 AD® has created hundreds of memorable comic book characters whose lasting appeal has been proven not only in the ultra-competitive world of comics publishing, but also by branching out into movies, video games, radio plays, collectibles and merchandising.
More about Rebellion…
Founded in 1992 by brothers Jason and Chris Kingsley, Rebellion® has been long-established as one of the most successful names in gaming and continues to be a market leader to this day. Newly released title Atomfall® reached 2.5 million players shortly after release just this year, becoming the studio’s most successful game launch to date. Our studios are also hard at work on several unannounced projects.
Rebellion® Film and TV is working on a number of projects both internally and with external partners. A feature film based on Rogue Trooper® is currently in production. Written and directed by Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code, Warcraft, Mute), it will star breakout talent Aneurin Barnard alongside Hayley Atwell, Jack Lowden, Daryl McCormack, Sean Bean and Reece Shearsmith. Meanwhile, Rebellion® Publishing continue to work with a litany of exceptional authors to bring their incredible works to readers around the world.
There is so much going on, much of which we can’t talk about, but the future is very exciting.
Discover Rebellion at BLE 2025, stand #D194.
