How to sell to Founders at Gaming companies
Founders in the gaming industry are focused on user engagement metrics, particularly daily active users (DAUs). They respond to outreach that demonstrates an understanding of their unique challenges, such as the need for innovative monetization strategies or the pressure to release updates that retain players. Highlighting insights into player behavior can spark their interest in a conversation.
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
- user retention challenges
- high player churn rates
- monetization strategy failures
- technical bugs in games
The playbook
- 01
Identify studios with recent game launches
Use platforms like Steam or the App Store to filter for game studios that have released new titles in the last three months. This indicates they are actively seeking ways to boost player retention and engagement, making them more receptive to discussions.
- 02
Research player feedback trends
Analyze player reviews and feedback on recent game releases to identify common pain points, such as bugs or monetization frustrations. Tailor your outreach to address these specific issues, showing the founder that you understand their players' needs.
- 03
Connect through industry events
Look for upcoming gaming conferences or expos where founders are likely to attend. Reach out via email or social media to mention specific sessions or topics that relate to their games, positioning your outreach as a relevant conversation starter.
- 04
Leverage mutual connections for introductions
Utilize LinkedIn to find connections who know the founder personally. A warm introduction can significantly increase your chances of a response, especially if the referrer can vouch for your understanding of the gaming landscape.
- 05
Follow up with insights from their competitors
If you don't receive a response after your initial outreach, send a follow-up that includes insights or trends from their competitors' recent successes or failures. This shows you are engaged with the industry and can provide value beyond just a sales pitch.
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
- Insights on player engagement
- Boost your game's retention
- Trends in mobile gaming
Questions
- Why do founders in gaming ignore outreach about analytics tools?
- Founders often perceive analytics tools as generic solutions that don’t cater to the unique challenges of their games. They may also be overwhelmed by the number of options available, leading them to ignore outreach that lacks a tailored approach or specific insights into their game’s performance.
- What common objections do gaming founders have to new partnerships?
- Founders in the gaming industry frequently object to new partnerships due to concerns over potential revenue sharing, the time required for integration, or doubts about the partner’s understanding of gaming dynamics. They prioritize solutions that align closely with their vision and immediate needs.
- How can I make my outreach stand out to gaming founders?
- To stand out, your outreach should include specific examples of how your insights or solutions can address the unique challenges of their games. Highlighting relevant case studies or industry benchmarks that directly relate to their current projects can capture their attention.
- What are the biggest frustrations for gaming founders when it comes to vendors?
- Many gaming founders are frustrated by vendors who lack industry-specific knowledge or who offer one-size-fits-all solutions. They prefer partners who understand the gaming ecosystem, including player behavior, market trends, and the competitive landscape, ensuring that proposed solutions are relevant and actionable.
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.
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