Imagine Dragons manager brings music–gaming fusion to BRIDGE Summit 2025

From managing sold-out stadia to fronting digital battlefields, Mac Reynolds – long-time manager of American pop band, Imagine Dragons – told guests at BRIDGE Summit 2025, the world’s largest debut media event how the team behind one of the world’s biggest music acts is bringing their expertise to the world of gaming.

In a session titled From Melodies to Multiplayers, Reynolds shared how the creative strategies that built Imagine Dragons’ global music brand are now being applied to gaming, emphasizing fan engagement, storytelling and cross-platform interactivity. Moderated by Andie Simon, Head of Business Development at Absurd Ventures, the conversation explored where music and gaming intersect in today’s entertainment ecosystem.

“Building a music brand and building a game aren’t that different,” said Reynolds, also the CEO of Night Street Games, the indie video game studio developing Last Flag, a competitive 5v5 shooter based on childhood capture-the-flag games, set in a funky 1970s game show world. “It’s about understanding your audience, delivering experiences they care about and creating worlds that keep them engaged. With Last Flag, we wanted to bring the same level of creativity and community that Imagine Dragons has cultivated over the years into interactive gaming.”

Explaining how this ‘jump’ from music to gaming was a ‘lifelong dream’ for him and his brother Dan, the lead vocalist and a founding member of Imagine Dragons, Reynolds said: “It felt very foreign at first, even though we grew up playing video games. Dan and I were coding, doing 3D modeling and animating, which was a lifelong dream for us. At the heart of both music and gaming is creativity: you have an idea, and you’re trying to connect people through that idea. Just like you can’t write a song by trying to make a hit, you can’t build a game solely for an audience – you have to start from creativity, or it won’t work.”

“For us, it’s really a path of nostalgia,” said Reynolds, who told audience how he and his brother grew up playing Capture the Flag (CTF) in the woods as Boy Scouts – hiding the flag ‘on their side and trying to find the other team’s flag’. “That core childhood experience inspired our game. While there are plenty of capture-the-flag modes, none really let you hide your flag like we did. It’s those authentic, playful memories that shape the gameplay and make it feel real.”

The discussion highlighted the growing convergence between entertainment mediums, showing how musicians, managers and creative entrepreneurs are leveraging IP, technology, and fan communities to expand storytelling beyond traditional formats.

This session was part of a 300+ session program that reflects BRIDGE Summit’s scale and ambition. The debut edition of BRIDGE Summit takes place from 8–10 December 2025 at ADNEC in Abu Dhabi.

Organised by the UAE National Media Office, the BRIDGE Summit 2025 is a global media, content and entertainment event taking place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from December 8 to 10, 2025.

The summit will bring together more than 60,000 participants — including creators, producers, journalists, artists, investors and policymakers — along with over 400 international speakers and around 300 exhibitors.

Across three days, attendees will join more than 300 sessions, including over 200+ panel discussions, 50+ workshops and interactive events covering seven content tracks: media, creator economy, music, gaming, technology, marketing and visual storytelling.

The summit aims to shape the global media landscape by fostering collaboration, supporting creative talent and enabling new business deals, investments and partnerships across the entertainment and content industries.