01
Mountain Dew
Soft drinks
Strong fit
Likelihood to partner95/100
Mountain Dew has run gamer-targeted marketing continuously since 2003 (Game Fuel line) and maintains a dedicated PepsiCo 'Director of Marketing, Entertainment, Gaming & Creators' role solely for gaming/esports deals; its Call of Duty tie-ins have recurred across five-plus title launches since 2011 and it became a Main Partner of the Esports World Cup 2025, so a AAA/mobile launch co-marketing pitch lands with a brand that already has the internal team and playbook for exactly this ask.
Partnership history
- Call of Duty (Activision) — Modern Warfare 3, Modern Warfare (2019), Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare II (2011–2022 (recurring)) -- Multiple launch tie-ins bundling Mountain Dew/Game Fuel purchase codes with in-game rewards, Double XP, and COD Points across five-plus title launches.
- OpTic Gaming & Call of Duty World League (CWL) (2018) -- Named launch partners for the debut of MTN DEW AMP GAME FUEL, PepsiCo's first drink co-developed 'by gamers, for gamers.'
- ESL (Mountain Dew League / CS:GO Pro League, IEM, ESL One) (2016–2019) -- Mountain Dew League (MDL) launched with ESL/ESEA as a pro-am on-ramp; ESL later named MTN DEW AMP GAME FUEL its official global beverage partner across CS:GO/Dota 2 events.
- Dr Disrespect (Twitch streamer/gaming personality) (2020) -- Multi-year banner partnership announced for MTN DEW GAME FUEL.
- Esports World Cup 2025 (Riyadh) (2025) -- Mountain Dew and Pepsi named Main Partners, with a Mountain Dew 'Dew levels up your game' digital-first campaign across broadcast, fan zones, and venue activations.
02
Chipotle
QSR / Fast casual
Strong fit
Likelihood to partner95/100
Chipotle over-indexes hard with Gen Z and was the most-followed food brand on TikTok, with one of the deepest, most consistent gaming-partnership track records of any QSR: a Roblox metaverse experience that hit 1.1M plays in 24 hours, multi-year EVO/fighting-game sponsorships (Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8), and an active 2025 Riot Games (2XKO) in-game bundle tie-in.
03
Crocs
Footwear
Strong fit
Likelihood to partner94/100
Crocs runs an aggressive, near-continuous pop-culture collab engine aimed at a youth/Gen-Z audience (CEO cites being No. 1 in footwear on TikTok Shop in the U.S.), and gaming is one of its most repeated collab categories, not a one-off: a full Xbox-branded clog/Jibbitz line spanning Halo, Fallout, DOOM, World of Warcraft and Sea of Thieves (Nov 2025), plus recurring Minecraft, Fortnite, Pokémon and Animal Crossing drops.
Partnership history
- Xbox (Microsoft) (2025) -- Official Xbox Classic Clog + Jibbitz 5-pack collab, controller-button detailing, charms themed to Halo, Fallout, DOOM, World of Warcraft, and Sea of Thieves.
- Animal Crossing (Nintendo) (2025) -- First-ever Crocs x Animal Crossing collection (Platform Clog for adults, Classic Clog for kids) with Tom Nook/K.K. Slider-themed Jibbitz, launched August 26, 2025.
- Minecraft (Mojang/Microsoft) (2024-2025) -- Multi-wave collab including a 'phygital' collection sold both as real shoes and as an in-game virtual Crocs item, plus a 2025 'Dark Forest' Classic Clog follow-up.
- Fortnite (Epic Games) (2024) -- Peely and Battle Bus-themed Classic Clogs with a functional 'back bling' pouch, plus Supply Llama/Kevin the Cube Jibbitz, released October 28, 2024.
- Pokémon (The Pokémon Company/Nintendo) (2024-2025) -- Recurring seasonal collections (Charizard/Jigglypuff/Gengar/Snorlax clogs in Oct 2024; Charizard-vs-Blastoise Versus Clog and Eevee/Pikachu styles in June 2025).
04
Monster Energy
Energy drinks
Strong fit
Likelihood to partner92/100
Monster Energy runs a dedicated Gaming & Esports vertical (monsterenergy.com/en-us/gaming) and is one of the most frequently occurring sponsors in esports, with deep, repeated game-launch-style tie-ins (Apex Legends can/in-game skin drops, Call of Duty League title sponsorship) that are directly analogous to a AAA/mobile game launch campaign.
Partnership history
- Call of Duty League (Activision Blizzard) (2023) -- Monster Energy became the Official Energy Drink of the Call of Duty League, sponsoring all 12 pro teams for the 2023-2024 seasons with in-game rewards, bonus 2XP, and branded content.
- Apex Legends (EA / Respawn Entertainment) (2022) -- Limited-edition Apex Legends-themed Monster cans (Octane, Pathfinder, Lifeline art) unlocking exclusive in-game skins, tracker sets and Battle Pass levels via apexlegends.monsterenergy.com, plus a $100,000 charity tournament.
- Evil Geniuses (2010 (10-year milestone marked 2021)) -- Long-running sponsorship of the esports org Evil Geniuses, with a multi-year extension announced on the 10th anniversary of the partnership.
- ESL Gaming (2020s (multi-year extension)) -- Historic multi-year global portfolio partnership extension/expansion with ESL Gaming, marking Monster Energy's first move into supporting mobile gaming and esports.
- X Games League (2025) -- Signed a landmark three-year deal making Monster Energy the founding partner of the new X Games League and official energy drink of X Games.
05
G FUEL
Gaming energy drink
Strong fit
Likelihood to partner92/100
G FUEL is explicitly positioned and trademarked as 'The Official Energy Drink of Esports,' built from inception in 2012 for gamers/streamers/esports pros, and it runs frequent, well-documented flavor tie-ins with AAA/mobile game launches (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners with CD Projekt Red, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands with 2K/Gearbox) plus deep esports-org sponsorships (FaZe Clan since 2012, revived with an equity-stake deal in Sept 2024).
06
Red Bull
Energy drinks
Strong fit
Likelihood to partner90/100
Red Bull's entire brand positioning is built on youth/extreme-culture energy, and it has run an active, well-staffed gaming/esports division for nearly two decades (own titles like Red Bull Kumite, plus league-level deals with Riot Games and top esports orgs), so a game-launch tie-in fits both its audience and its proven deal pattern rather than being a stretch.
Partnership history
- T1 Entertainment & Sports (2020) -- Multi-year partnership covering all of T1's competitive rosters (League of Legends, VALORANT, Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate).
- Riot Games — League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) (2019 (renewed 2025, through 2026)) -- Red Bull is the LEC's energy-drink partner with naming rights to the in-match 'Baron Power Play'; partnership renewed in March 2025 to run through end of 2026.
- Riot Games — VALORANT Champions Tour EMEA (VCT EMEA) (2021 (renewed 2025, through 2026)) -- Red Bull sponsors VCT EMEA broadcasts ('Clutch Moments' segment) and hosts community VALORANT events; extended through 2026.
- Red Bull Kumite (Street Fighter, Capcom franchise) (2015–present) -- Red Bull's own invitational Street Fighter tournament IP, running annually since 2015 (10th anniversary event held in Paris in 2025).
- Richard "Ninja" Blevins and other pro gamers/streamers (2010s) -- Early individual sponsorships of competitive gamers and streaming personalities (Ninja, xPeke, Leffen) as Red Bull built out its esports athlete roster.
07
Wendy's
QSR / Fast food
Strong fit
Likelihood to partner90/100
Wendy's has one of the most gamer-native brand personas in QSR — a famously sassy Twitter voice and the first verified restaurant account on Twitch — backed by a multi-year, award-winning track record of real gaming tie-ins (the 2018 Fortnite 'Food Fight' campaign and the Cannes Gold Lion-winning 2020-21 'Super Wendy's World' series across Minecraft, Super Mario Maker 2, and Smash Bros. Ultimate).
Partnership history
- Fortnite (Epic Games) (2018-2019) -- Wendy's inserted itself into Fortnite's 'Food Fight' mode as an in-game character on Team Pizza destroying Durr Burger freezers to push its 'fresh, never frozen' message, livestreamed for ~10 hours on Twitch and later expanded as VMLY&R's 'Keeping Fortnite Fresh' campaign; won two Cannes Lions Gold.
- Twitch (Minecraft / Super Mario Maker 2 / Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) (2020-2021) -- 'Super Wendy's World' had the Wendy brand character play weekly in popular games with an 'anti-frozen' twist, releasing downloadable in-game content; Wendy's became the first verified restaurant account on Twitch and placed in the top 1% of streamers, winning a Gold Cannes Lion.
- Uber Eats + Twitch streamers (Tfue, Myth, Flight, itsHafu, xChocoBars) (2020) -- 'Never Stop Gaming Menu' delivery-only campaign paired custom Wendy's meal combos with five top Twitch streamers, each promoting their namesake meal live and giving away gaming gear/consoles, exclusive to Uber Eats for five days.
08
Doritos
Snacks
Strong fit
Likelihood to partner88/100
Doritos has explicitly branded its youth/gamer identity for over a decade and runs recurring, large-scale gaming activations (Doritos Bowl since 2018, DreamHack since 2019, Twitch Rivals Europe since 2021), so both audience fit and willingness to do gaming co-marketing deals are strongly documented, not inferred.
Partnership history
- Twitch (Doritos Bowl at TwitchCon) (2018) -- Doritos and Twitch co-hosted the first Doritos Bowl, a Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Blackout tournament at TwitchCon San Jose with streamer captains Ninja, Shroud, CouRage, and DrLupo.
- DreamHack (2019) -- Doritos became an official partner of DreamHack Summer, one of the largest gaming/esports festivals.
- Twitch Rivals (Doritos Disruptor Series / Doritos Bowl) (2020-2021) -- Doritos ran the 10-tournament Doritos Disruptor Series across five games, then relaunched Doritos Bowl with Twitch Rivals North America featuring Call of Duty: Warzone, Hearthstone, and League of Legends with a $175,000 prize pool.
- Twitch Rivals Europe (2021) -- Doritos signed on as official marketing partner of Twitch Rivals Europe, spanning roughly 60 broadcasts across Western Europe.
- Gamers8 (Savvy Games Group) (2023) -- PepsiCo (parent of Doritos) partnered with Saudi Arabia's Gamers8 esports and gaming festival, with Doritos among the PepsiCo brands present.
09
Nike
Apparel / Footwear
Strong fit
Likelihood to partner82/100
Nike's core sneakerhead/streetwear audience (ages 16-35) heavily overlaps with gamer culture and Gen Z digital engagement, and Nike has repeatedly built dedicated gaming products rather than one-off ads (Fortnite Kicks 2024, NBA 2K Gamer Exclusives since 2019, RTFKT gaming-native digital collectibles, multiple esports org deals), making a game-launch tie-in highly plausible.
10
Prime Hydration
Sports/hydration drinks
Worth a look
Likelihood to partner58/100
Prime's audience skews heavily youth/teen and gamer-adjacent (co-founded by KSI, who built his early YouTube career on video-game commentary, and Logan Paul, both with combined 40M+ subscribers), which makes the ICP fit very strong. However, its documented partnership history is concentrated in combat sports, football clubs, and pro wrestling (UFC, WWE, Arsenal) plus a creator-flavor tie-in with streamer iShowSpeed — no verified video-game publisher or franchise partnership turned up in search, so a gaming co-marketing 'yes' is plausible given their deal appetite but unproven.
Partnership history
- UFC (2023) -- Multi-year global marketing deal naming Prime the Official Global Sports Drink of UFC, with Octagon corner branding and PPV weigh-in sponsorship.
- WWE (2024) -- Record-setting global partnership making Prime WWE's official hydration partner, including first-ever ring mat branding.
- Arsenal F.C. (2022) -- Named official hydration/sports drink partner of the Premier League club, tied to co-founder KSI's lifelong fandom.
- iShowSpeed (2024) -- Limited-edition custom Dragon Fruit Acai flavor and bottle collab with top gaming/streaming YouTuber iShowSpeed.