How to sell to CFOs at Gaming companies
CFOs in gaming companies prioritize financial efficiency and profitability, often measured by operating margins. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of cash flow challenges specific to game development cycles, such as the impact of seasonal releases on revenue. Highlighting solutions that improve financial forecasting will capture their attention.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 544 gaming company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- cash flow volatility during game launches
- budget overruns in development
- inaccurate financial forecasting
- pressure to reduce operational costs
The playbook
- 01
Identify studios with recent funding rounds
Use Crunchbase or PitchBook to find gaming companies that have recently closed funding rounds. Filter for those with at least $5 million in new capital, as they are likely looking to optimize their financial strategies and may be open to new solutions.
- 02
Research financial pain points from industry reports
Review reports from industry analysts like Newzoo or Statista to identify common financial challenges faced by gaming CFOs, such as fluctuating revenue due to game launch cycles. Use these insights to tailor your messaging to address these specific issues.
- 03
Craft messaging around cash flow management
Develop outreach that directly addresses the cash flow management challenges during game production and release. For example, emphasize how your solution can help smooth out financial fluctuations that occur during peak development periods and launch windows.
- 04
Anticipate objections about ROI
Prepare to handle objections regarding the return on investment by gathering case studies or examples from similar gaming companies that improved their financial metrics using your approach. Be ready to discuss specific percentages or timeframes for expected improvements.
- 05
Follow up after major gaming events
Schedule follow-ups after major gaming expos or events, like E3 or GDC, when CFOs are reflecting on their financial strategies for upcoming projects. Reference insights or trends from these events in your follow-up communication to demonstrate relevance and timeliness.
Can gaming companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 544 gaming companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 11.5% of 1–10-person companies against 58.5% of the largest — 47 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Navigating cash flow in gaming
- Optimizing budgets for game studios
- Financial strategies for mobile games
Questions
- Why do CFOs in gaming ignore pitches about financial tools?
- CFOs often receive numerous pitches but may ignore them if they don't immediately see relevance to their specific financial challenges. If a pitch lacks clear data or insights related to cash flow management during game cycles, it risks being overlooked.
- What financial metrics are most important to gaming CFOs?
- Gaming CFOs typically focus on metrics like operating margins, cash flow forecasts, and budget adherence. They are particularly interested in how these metrics can be improved through better financial management and strategic investments.
- How can I approach CFOs about cost management?
- When approaching CFOs, emphasize how your solution can help streamline costs associated with game development and marketing. Provide specific examples of cost-saving measures that have worked for other studios to build credibility.
- What trends are impacting CFO decisions in gaming?
- Current trends such as the rise of mobile gaming, subscription models, and the impact of microtransactions are influencing CFO decisions. They are looking for tools that can help them adapt to these changes while maintaining financial stability.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
Try it on your site