What ICO Partners does

ICO Partners is a privately held, founder-owned games publishing services agency headquartered in Brighton, United Kingdom, operating continuously since 2008. The company provides outsourced marketing, communications, and crowdfunding services to game developers and publishers, spanning indie studios through AAA publishers. Its service portfolio covers public relations and media relations, organic and paid creator/influencer marketing, go-to-market strategy, paid media management, in-person activations and events, Kickstarter campaign design and management, award submissions, and press release development. The client base includes Larian Studios (Baldur's Gate 3), Riot Games (League of Legends), Wizards of the Coast (Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, World of Warships), Tencent Games, Bandai Namco, DON'T NOD, Creative Assembly, Koei Tecmo, Shiro Games, and Greenheart Games, among others. The company was founded by Thomas Bidaux (CEO) and Diane Lagrange (Director), both with prior in-house games-industry experience at Ubisoft, NCSOFT Europe, and Riot Games-era staff networks.

The agency's underlying technology stack centers on a proprietary internal tracking toolkit for media coverage, creator campaign impact, and review key management, and on Stash, a custom platform hosted at stash.icopartners.com that distributes game keys and press kits to content creators and media. Supporting owned-media products include weekly newsletters covering new game releases on Steam and Nintendo Switch and a separate weekly newsletter for tabletop Kickstarter campaigns. The team is multilingual and operates internationally, with stated coverage of 30 countries and 20 languages across Europe and North America. Headcount is approximately 17, with roles spanning CEO, COO, Creative Director, Publishing Producer, multiple Senior/Junior Comms Managers, Marketing Manager, Backend Developer, and Full Stack Developer.

ICO Partners' business model is professional services, with bespoke project-based and retainer pricing rather than published rates. Revenue is generated from PR and communications engagements, marketing service fees, and Kickstarter campaign consulting fees paid by game studios and publishers. The company is bootstrapped — no funding rounds, institutional investors, or parent company are disclosed — and operates as ICO Partners Limited, a UK private limited company. Distribution relies on a sales-led, relationship-driven go-to-market within the games industry, supplemented by community-led mechanics through the Stash platform and weekly newsletters.

Name

ICO Partners

Legal name

ICO Partners Limited

Website

https://icopartners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ICO Partners is a bootstrapped, Brighton-based games publishing services agency founded in 2008 that provides outsourced PR, communications, marketing, and Kickstarter consulting to game developers and publishers ranging from indie studios to AAA publishers across Europe and North America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brighton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - Communications & PR: Core revenue stream from providing PR, communications, and media relations services to game studios and publishers. Services include connecting with journalists, creator marketing campaigns, press releases, and award submissions.
2. Professional Services - Marketing: Go-to-market planning, paid media management, in-person activations, and events marketing for games.
3. Professional Services - Crowdfunding Consulting: Consulting and support for Kickstarter and crowdfunding campaigns, including campaign design, launch, and management.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Core offering

ICO Partners is a self-publishing games agency that provides communications, marketing, and crowdfunding services to game developers and publishers. Its offering spans PR and media relations, organic and paid creator marketing campaigns, award submissions, go-to-market planning, paid media management, in-person activations, and end-to-end Kickstarter campaign design and management. It also operates Stash, a proprietary platform that distributes game review keys and press materials to content creators and media.

Product overview

ICO Partners is a specialist games publishing services agency offering a unified suite of marketing, communications, and crowdfunding services for game developers and publishers. The core offering centers on ICO Partners Services for communications (PR, media relations, creator marketing, award submissions, showcases), crowdfunding campaign management, and go-to-market marketing support. The company operates Stash, a platform for distributing game keys and press materials to content creators and media. Supporting products include weekly newsletters covering Steam/Nintendo Switch game releases and Kickstarter tabletop campaigns. The agency also develops internal tools for tracking media coverage and campaign performance. The portfolio spans indie studios to AAA publishers including Larian Studios, Riot Games, Wizards of the Coast, Bandai Namco, and Don't Nod.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Stash: A platform operated by ICO Partners that provides game keys for creators and media, allowing content creators to request review keys for games they manage.
• ICO Kickstarter Table Top Newsletter
• ICO Weekly Newsletters

Products and services

• Games Publishing Agency Services Full-service agency offering for game developers and publishers covering communications (PR, media relations, creator marketing, award submissions), crowdfunding campaign management, and go-to-market marketing.
• Stash

Quantifiable outcome

• Successful launch support for games across all segments from indie to AAA

Named customers7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Larian StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGame developer of Baldur's Gate 3. ICO Partners has worked with Larian on media relations, creators marketing, and PR support for high-profile releases.
• Wizards of the CoastcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublisher of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. ICO provided communication support for World of Warships and World of Warships Legends in European markets.
• Riot GamescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloper/publisher of League of Legends. ICO Partners worked on PR and marketing support for League of Legends projects.
• Shiro GamescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloper of Northgard and other titles. Long-standing partnership for marketing and PR support across multiple game releases.
• FinjicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndependent game publisher. ICO Partners working on current projects including Usual June.
• DON'T NODcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench video game developer (Life is Strange series). ICO Partners providing communications support during important periods.
• Creative AssemblycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloper of Total War series. ICO Partners has provided PR and marketing support.
• Bandai NamcocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor Japanese game publisher. ICO Partners has team members with Bandai Namco France experience and current working relationships.
• Greenheart GamescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloper of Game Dev Tycoon and Tavern Keeper. ICO Partners played key role in Tavern Keeper Early Access launch, supporting through launch delays.
• Tencent GamescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor Chinese game company. ICO Partners has worked on projects in their portfolio.
• ARTEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean public broadcast channel with games division. ICO Partners has provided PR planning support for multiple game projects.
• White OwlscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGame developer. Supported by ICO Partners since end of 2017, with consulting on crowdfunding described as 'perfect'.
• Capy GamescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloper of games including Super Time Force. ICO Partners has provided PR and marketing support.
• PolyarccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVR game developer (Moss series). ICO Partners has worked on marketing campaigns.
• Hi-Rez StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloper of SMITE and other titles. ICO Partners worked on SMITE projects.
• Amplitude StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench developer of Endless series. Ongoing partnership for PR and communications.
• NeowizcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKorean game publisher. ICO Partners has provided international PR support.
• Koei TecmocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJapanese game publisher. ICO Partners has worked on marketing campaigns.
• Hidden Path EntertainmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloper. ICO Partners has provided marketing support, described as 'the best marketing money Hidden Path has ever spent'.
• AdHoc StudiocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGame development studio. ICO Partners has provided PR and marketing support.
• XploredcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGame developer. ICO Partners has worked on marketing campaigns.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sandbox Strategies: Games industry marketing and communications consultancy. Comparable as a games-focused PR and marketing services firm supporting publishers with media relations and creator campaigns.
• Renaissance PR: UK-based games PR and marketing agency. Comparable to ICO Partners as a European games-specialist communications partner offering PR, influencer, and marketing services to game studios.
• Evolve PR: US-based PR and marketing agency specializing in video games and entertainment. Directly comparable as a games-focused communications agency serving publishers and developers with similar PR, influencer, and launch support services.
• Neomancer: Independent games marketing and PR agency. Directly comparable as a games-specialist communications firm offering PR, influencer outreach, and launch campaign support for developers and publishers.
• Plan of Attack: Games marketing and PR agency serving indie and mid-market publishers. Comparable as a specialist games communications partner with overlapping marketing, PR, and community services for game launches.
• Honig PR: Games and entertainment PR agency. Comparable as a specialist video games communications firm providing media relations, influencer outreach, and launch PR to publishers and developers.
• Diva Agency: PR, marketing, and communications agency with a dedicated games and entertainment practice. Comparable as a games industry communications firm providing media relations, influencer outreach, and launch support.
• Indigo Pearl: UK-headquartered games PR and communications agency. Closely comparable given overlapping European games-PR focus, publisher client base, and similar service lines in media relations and influencer marketing.

Emerging players

• Future Friends Games: Boutique games marketing and PR firm focused on indie and AA titles. Comparable in service offering (PR and marketing for game launches) though smaller in scope than ICO's AAA-tier client mix.

Broad incumbents

• Keyword Studios (marketing services): Large-scale games services platform offering marketing, PR, and player support alongside broader game development services. Comparable as a competitor in games marketing/communications but with a much wider service portfolio and global scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/icopartners
• Facebookfacebook.com/icopartners
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ico-partners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ICO Partners