For years, Lego toys have captivated the hearts of fans. The toy itself is straightforward – a series of bricks that can attach, allowing you to build anything that your heart desires.
However, as technology advances and new forms of entertainment come out, companies have to adapt. For Lego, this meant taking their toy digital.
We now have Lego games for so many different popular franchises, from Star Wars to Indiana Jones, and the games have captured our hearts just like the toys did. If you’re a fan of the games or the toy, here are some quick facts about Lego video games.
Lego’s Long Relationship With Video Games
Lego has quite a long history when it comes to video games, with the very first Lego video game coming out in 1995. It was called LEGO Fun To Build, and it was made for the SEGA Pico console.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t very popular because of the console’s obscurity, but that didn’t deter them from creating more games. Their refusal to give up led them to a much more lucrative relationship with the video game industry.
Now, they have multiple different partnerships with different creators, such as DC Comics and Disney. Lego has also created various Lego titles that include their intellectual properties.
Lego and TT Games
For the first ten years after the release of LEGO Fun To Build, the brand wasn’t getting many sales, at least not until TT Games entered the scene. In 2005, TT Games and Lego teamed up to release one of their most popular titles, LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game.
LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game took off and is often credited as the game that brought Lego video games to the forefront of video game culture. Since then, they have collaborated in the creation of 30 different Lego games across plenty of platforms, including some of your favorites.
Some of the most popular titles include Lego Harry Potter, Lego Batman, and Lego Indiana Jones.
Original Lego Storylines and Environments
Many Lego video game titles, especially the most popular ones, are mostly adapted from movie plotlines and include those characters and environments, such as the Star Wars and Harry Potter games.
However, in 2008, LEGO Batman: The Video Game was the first-ever licensed LEGO video game to include its own originally written plot that wasn’t based on a movie plot. It merely took place in that universe and made use of that universe’s property.
Not many of their games tell an original story, as getting a third party to give them permission to use their property can be very difficult. That hasn’t stopped them from creating their own universes, though.
The LEGO Movie, which came out in 2014, and the sequel, which came out in 2019, both got video game adaptations. While they certainly use other creators’ property, both the movies and the video games are entirely original in their plotlines.
They are the first games to have environments wholly made of Lego and Lego elements. They are actually going to use the same technology they used in the games to create the environments for LEGO Worlds and The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game.
Co-Op To Multiplayer
While most Lego games started out as split-screen co-op, it was only in 2010 that they created their first online multiplayer game.
LEGO Universe, as it is called, launched in 2010 and has since garnered a massive player base that is still dedicated to this day, using emulators to play the game even after it was shut down.
Inspirations
We’ve already mentioned The LEGO Movie, but the movie actually wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for the games.
Because the games allowed LEGO to make all those connections with various companies, they essentially had the green light to go ahead and include all the characters they’ve ever included in their games, creating this massive crossover universe.
Summary
The Lego video games have a long history, going back more than 25 years now.
Their games have evolved a lot over time and have grown to include many different universes that are not all connected thanks to the Lego expanded universe, known as LEGO Dimensions.