Tokyo, Japan – Sanrio is doubling down on entertainment beyond merchandise, unveiling a series of strategic moves that signal its ambitions to become a broader global intellectual property (IP) platform.
The company has recently announced a capital and business alliance with Japanese animation company IG Port, while earlier this year launching Sanrio Games, its new self-publishing gaming label, as it expands how fans engage with its iconic characters across anime, gaming, and digital experiences.
The latest move sees Sanrio acquire a 4.98% stake in IG Port, investing approximately ¥1.76b (US$11.9m) through a combination of a third-party allotment and private share acquisition.
The partnership is designed to strengthen Sanrio’s animation capabilities while opening new opportunities to co-develop original IP and expand globally.
Under the alliance, both companies will explore animated projects based on Sanrio’s extensive portfolio of more than 450 characters, while also collaborating on merchandise, games, and new IP creation built around IG Port’s animation expertise.
The partnership supports Sanrio’s long-term vision of becoming a “Global IP Platform Provider,” announced in 2025 under its 10-year strategy, Lighting the Way to Bring Smiles to All.
Tomokuni Tsuji, President and CEO at Sanrio, said investing in IG Port aligns with the company’s ambition to strengthen video production capabilities while creating more ways for audiences worldwide to experience its characters.
“Collaborating with their team will enhance our video capabilities and create new ways to share our IP centring on visual content. This partnership also opens up possibilities to commercialise IP tied to IG Port works and co-create new titles that help us reach new fans worldwide,” Tsuji said.
For IG Port, whose portfolio includes anime production and manga publishing, the partnership combines its content creation strengths with one of Japan’s most recognisable character brands.
Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, President and CEO at IG Port, said the collaboration has the potential to expand the global reach of Japanese character, anime, and manga culture.
The alliance follows another major milestone announced by Sanrio earlier this year—the launch of Sanrio Games, the company’s first self-publishing gaming brand.
Positioned as a new touchpoint for fan engagement, the initiative will see Sanrio release around 10 self-published titles by 2029, beginning with Sanrio Party Land, a Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 party game scheduled for worldwide release in autumn 2026.
Rather than treating games as standalone products, Sanrio said the strategy is to integrate gaming with its wider ecosystem, including merchandise, theme parks, membership services, and retail experiences to create connected physical and digital journeys for fans.
Kosuke Hamasaki, Managing Executive Officer at Sanrio, previously said the company has been strengthening its in-house game development capabilities since announcing investments into the gaming business in 2024.
“By continuing to offer titles across a variety of genres and linking them with Sanrio’s other assets, we will further expand our IP and establish an earnings foundation over the medium to long term,” Hamasaki said.
Together, the initiatives reflect a broader strategy for Sanrio to evolve from a character licensing business into an entertainment company spanning multiple consumer touchpoints, as competition intensifies across the global IP economy.
