Cross-Border Game-IP Valuation Diligence Director

The mandate

The target attributes most enterprise value to one live franchise and a planned sequel, yet character licences, composer and creator agreements, regional publishing rights and player-data permissions differ by market. Forecasts extrapolate recent virtual-item performance without separating content cadence or payer concentration. The buyer needs an economic bridge from enforceable rights and retained community to future cash.

The twelve-week deliverable includes a rights-to-revenue map, cohort economics, franchise valuation scenarios and transaction-risk pack. Milestone one closes rights and source mapping in week three; milestone two establishes live-game cohort and content economics in week six; milestone three tests sequel, licence and creator downside in week nine; milestone four delivers value ranges and investment-committee conclusions.

The client will provide counsel-reviewed rights summaries, licence and creator agreements, anonymised player cohorts, virtual-item catalogues, content calendars, platform fees, marketing spend and management access. Acceptance requires forecast revenue to reconcile to cohort and content drivers, each major cash flow to map to a confirmed right, and three downside scenarios to flow through value. Legal and deal sponsors jointly sign the rights assumptions.

The work excludes legal opinions on ownership, access to identifiable player data, technical code diligence, independent fairness opinion and negotiation of licence or employment terms. Consultants may quantify economic dependency using counsel-confirmed rights but cannot determine enforceability or approve the acquisition. All cohort work remains within buyer-controlled secure analytics.

Models will expose active users, payer conversion, spend concentration, content cost, platform take, marketing response, licence term and sequel migration independently. Buyer analysts must refresh one cohort and insert a changed licence assumption before acceptance. Post-close franchise planning or purchase-accounting valuation would be separately commissioned.

Why this is external work

Target founders and publishers present franchise story, counsel describes rights and product teams understand community behaviour, but the buyer lacks one integrated economic view. Recent growth makes extrapolation tempting while licence and sequel dependencies are nonlinear. External game-finance expertise can test durable value without judging creative merit.

What you will own

• Map characters, story, code, music, creator, publishing, platform and player-data rights to products and territories.
• Reconcile bookings, recognised revenue, platform deductions, refunds and cash by cohort, item and content event.
• Analyse acquisition, retention, payer conversion, spend concentration, reactivation and content-cadence economics.
• Separate existing live-game value from sequel option, cross-media potential and unsupported franchise halo.
• Stress licence expiry, creator departure, platform change, delayed content, whale churn and sequel migration.
• Connect confirmed rights and cohort evidence to cash-flow, valuation, deal protection and integration priority.
• Deliver rights map, cohort book, valuation cases, source register and committee-ready uncertainty narrative.

Candidate qualifications

• Led valuation diligence for a live-service game, interactive franchise or globally distributed digitally monetised entertainment asset.
• Rebuilt revenue from player cohorts, virtual-item behaviour, content cadence, platform fees and marketing response.
• Connected counsel-confirmed character, music, creator and publishing rights to territory-specific cash flows.
• Challenged sequel and franchise-option value when community transfer or licence continuity lacked evidence.
• Protected player privacy while obtaining decision-grade cohort and concentration analysis in secure environments.
• Delivered transparent models that buyer teams refreshed independently through bid and rights negotiation.

Non-negotiables

• Can complete two studio visits and four Seoul milestones within the twelve-week transaction timetable.
• Will disclose game studios, publishers, platforms, creators, licensors, investors and competing-bidder relationships.
• Brings live-game IP and cohort valuation; conventional media multiples or product enthusiasm alone is insufficient.
• Accepts counsel-confirmed rights, anonymised data and no authority over creative, legal or investment decisions.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe a game-franchise value you reduced because cohort evidence or licence scope contradicted the narrative.
2. 49 words maximum. Which right must be confirmed before sequel cash flows enter your valuation?
3. 49 words maximum. What studio, publisher, platform or licensor relationship could impair your independence?